In Forensic Juvenile Center ‘Teylingereind’ a psychiatric and psychological assessment takes place in a residential setting. Following a court order, a juvenile suspect of a criminal offense is observed for seven weeks by a multidisciplinary team. Each discipline has its own expertise. The team generates an observation report, which will advise the Court on the defendant’s pathology, the risk of re-offending and any recommendations regarding treatment or appropriate security measures. For this article we have analyzed the observation reports generated in Teylingereind between May 2009 and May 2012. This analysis shows the variations in participation by the suspects in the assessment and the recommendations in a legal context.Although with juvenile suspects participating in the observation the conditions attached to a suspended sentence can easier be examined, the observation reports of those difficult to examine have also lead to useful recommendations.

Currently, procedural justice theory is predominantly used to explain defendants’ satisfaction with the police, courts and prisons. It is unclear to what extent this theory applies to lawyers. This study investigates to what extent defendants are satisfied with their lawyers, and procedural fairness characteristics are related to defendants’ satisfaction with their lawyers. Data from the Prison Project were used: a large-scale research project on Dutch criminal defendants. Results suggest that generally, defendants are very satisfied with their lawyers. Variation in satisfaction with lawyers can be attributed for a substantial part to procedural fairness characteristics.

Traumatic experiences and post-traumatic stress disorder have been linked to increased aggression and child abuse. Surprisingly, a dearth of studies investigates the impact of trauma on fatherhood. The present study investigates the extent of father-involvement and the influence of post-traumatic stress on the parent-child relationship in a refugee and asylum seeker population (N = 80). The results show that fathers were less involved in care-giving. Traumatic stress symptoms negatively affected the perception and the actual quality of parent-child interaction likewise posttraumatic stress influences the quality of mother-child interaction. The levels of observed hostility and reported aggression are a particular concern.

The relationship between domestic violence and animal abuse is called the ‘cruelty link’. In this article, this relationship is discussed from different perspectives. First, the literature on the cruelty link is reviewed. Second, victims of domestic violence and animal cops are questioned. Finally, the experience of experts in the field of animal welfare and domestic violence is discussed. The research findings support the relationship between domestic violence and animal abuse, but interpretation of these results should be drawn with caution. In order to come to a more detailed insight in different aspects of this relationship, further research will be necessary.