Due to the present political discussion concerning the formalisation of police performance (so-called performance contracts), this article looks into the effects of these contracts on the actions of community policemen. The results are based on interviews and observations. Not so much the line of policy, but the social interactions that occur between officers and citizens influence the discretionary actions of community policemen. In addition, the policeman’s state of mind, experience and the severity of the consequences of the offender have a relevant impact on work performance and the decision to fine or not. Merely the performance contracts produce little effect on the enforcement of community policemen.

In the fight against human trafficking it is very important that victims are willing to report incidents and otherwise cooperate with the criminal proces. In practice there are serious problems with the attitude of the victim towards the suspect and with the consistency and solidness of the testimonies of the victim. In a study to explore this problem we found that the perspectives of the victims were not on the same wavelength with the perspective of the criminal law. In order to illustrate this great gap, in this article we present a case-study.

Combatting honour related violence forms an important topic of criminal justice policy in the Netherlands. This article analyzes this policy, in particular the prosecution guideline on honour related violence, thereby focusing on victims and perpetrators, and the difficulties of dealing with the cultural background of honour related violence in criminal justice policy.

The master thesis Meditation inside the prison system describes the role of mindful meditation practises inside the prison environment. This article shortly summarizes the positive effects of (vipassana) meditation on the mental well-being of prisoners as set out in foreign studies and elaborates on the potential context for meditation programmes inside the Dutch prison system. This context can be found in the legal aim of individual rehabilitation including more intrinsic notions of internal growth and in certain insights of criminological nature. Interviews with several prison managers reveal an open attitude towards the practical integration of meditation programmes.

In a column a journal editor or an author expresses his or her opinion on a particular subject.