The most important mechanism for crime prevention is just the presence of guardians. Some counter arguments against this thesis are discussed and rejected. By manipulating the presence of guardians it is possible to influence the level of prevention. It is argued that a large scale evaluation of such measures is wanted.

This article presents some of the results of a study in which 25 adult men were interviewed who took part in restorative mediation in the French speaking part of Belgium and were desisting from crime. Their narratives were used to find out whether participation in restorative justice influenced positively their journey towards desistance; if so, which factors in restorative mediation supported this change process and how these factors had been helpful. The results suggest that restorative mediation has the potential to contribute to desistance in a humble, but significant way. Core aspects of mediation supported mostly already started desistance processes and they were helpful in a mainly cognitive way. The authors propose to further investigate the specific and helpful ‘presence’ of mediators and to reflect upon the apparent absence in restorative mediation of practical follow-up support towards desistance.

In this contribution, the justification of restorative practices in prison is first discussed from a normative perspective. On the basis of Lippke’s retributive theory of imprisonment it is argued that modern, humane retributive sanctioning entails an obligation to provide prisoners with opportunities to engage in restorative practices. Second, restorative practices in prison are examined from the perspective of possible impacts on the empowerment of prisoners and their experience to move away from crime and do good. Finally, it is argued that in order to yield positive effects, restorative practices in prison need to be supported by a safe and healthy living environment.

The Dutch Custodial Institutions Agency (DJI) strives for a more restorative prison culture in the Netherlands, incorporating a more victim-oriented and restorative way of working in prisons. To this end, DJI has asked for a plan and process evaluation of three restorative courses among (juvenile and adult) prisoners in the Netherlands: Puinruimen, SOS and DAPPER. This article first offers an overview of the most important findings of this evaluation which was finalized in 2016. Based on the findings of the plan evaluation, a cautious yet clearly positive picture emerges of the design and substantiation of each of the three courses examined. That is, an extensive description and substantiation exists of each course. In addition, evidence exists in the (limited) scientific literature for one of the goals that each of these courses have formulated: to increase prisoners’ awareness of the consequences of crime for victims. The literature also suggests that creating trust among participants and a safe group process during the course is helpful in attaining the goals formulated. The process evaluation of the execution of the three courses in practice further strengthens the cautious, yet positive picture painted by the plan evaluation. An examination of the experiences of the courses’ participants lends further support to the observation that these courses can attain part of their goals. For example, after the course participants were more positive about the added value of victim-offender mediation for them personally than before.
Aside from these findings, this article also argues for a deeper consideration of the constructive roles that both emotions guilt and shame can play in the restorative process of prisoners during these courses. The article ends with a number of recommendations for restorative courses in prison and a sketch of the current state of affairs in the Netherlands regarding these courses.

This contribution describes the legal basis for revoking or denying a residence status to asylum seekers and individuals in possession of a status who are considered war criminals, ‘common’ criminals or terrorists, in what way the Dutch government tries to identify these persons, and what the nature and size of this group is. The authors conclude that identifying alleged war criminals and jihadists is particularly complex and that there is a tension with respect to the use, necessity and desirability of making available concrete tools in the form of indicators to first line professionals for the purpose of identifying jihadists. The presence of unwanted but unremovable (criminal) asylum seekers is undesirable from the perspective of society. The suggestion is made to provide them, under certain conditions, with a temporary residence status.

In this exploratory study, two questions are addressed. Firstly, examining police files on honour based violence (HBV), do we find conflicts that take place in asylum centers, and if so, what can we learn from those files? Secondly, to what extent can these police files provide insight into the role of HBV in the lives of refugees in the Netherlands? What are the possibilities and limitations and how can they be dealt with in future research?
We apply the importation and deprivation models within total institutions on asylum centers and zoom in on honour based conflicts within these centers. The conflicts revolved around family life and morality issues, and resulted in both threats and physical violence. Among younger victims, their choice of partner was the main stumbling block, while later in the course of life conflicts arose from divorces and new relationships. Distinguishing between importation and deprivation factors within these HBV cases turned out to be difficult for two reasons. Firstly, within Dutch policy HBV is primarily viewed as violence within (extended) families and often originating from conflicts regarding partner choice and morality. This focus corresponds to importation rather than deprivation. Secondly, many cases showed interaction between the two factors, for example the many different backgrounds of the inhabitants of the asylum center can be viewed as both importation and deprivation. Future research should look into (a combination of) different data sources to shed light on the role of deprivation, because deprivational factors are more susceptible for (short term) policy measures to help prevent unnecessary stress and causes of conflict, whether honour based or not.

Valid interpretation of quasi-experimental effect evaluation studies using propensity score matching is in need of a more detailed coverage of non-matched cases in both experimental and comparison group. The argument is illustrated using a number of recent Dutch criminological studies.