Abstract:
Policy programmes in the field of Dutch criminal law
often aim at the reduction of recidivism; measures
are taken to lower the risk of prosecuted offenders
relapsing into criminal behaviour. Some years ago,
specific targets were formulated with respect to two
major offender groups. For convicted juvenile offenders,
and for adult ex-prisoners, the medium-term
recidivism will have to be reduced by 10 percentage
points between 2002 and 2010 (VbbV, 2007). The
current government also endorses the need to suppress
recidivism (DSP, 2011). A substantial part of
crime in the Netherlands is committed by persons
who have been prosecuted before. Therefore, crime
prevention is also the prevention of recidivism.
The Recidivism Monitor is an ongoing research project
carried out by the WODC. With this instrument
the realisation of the recidivism targets can be monitored.
Each year, the WODC reports on the reconviction
rate of Dutch offenders. Nearly all persons who
were suspect in a penal case are included in the
study. The standard measurements of the Recidivism
Monitor relate to five offender populations: adult
offenders sanctioned by court or Public Prosecutor’s
Service (PPS), juvenile offenders sanctioned by court
or PPS, ex-prisoners, former inmates of juvenile detention
centres and former offenders placed under
an entrustment order (tbs).1 The reconviction rates
in the tbs-sector are reported on separately (see int.
al. Bregman & Wartna, 2011). This fact sheet outlines
known recidivism in the other four offender
populations. Specifically, the study relates to juveniles
and adults who were sanctioned by court or
PPS or released from a penitentiary institution in
the years between 2002, the first year of the target
period, and 2008, the latest year for which statistics
are currently available.
