Samenvatting

In recent years, the Dutch Ministry of Justice and Safety has had to deal with severe budget-cuts leading to various austerity measures. For the Dutch Custodial Institutions (DJI) this has had serious consequences, including the closure of nearly half the prisons, the reintroduction of multi-person cells and a retrenchment of the detention regime. However, the chamber announced repeatedly that these cuts would not be detrimental to the core objectives of detention: security, self-reliance, dignity and a safe return to society. The pilot ‘Central facility’ is a project in which DJI wants to ‘test’ in practice her vision for the future. In the pilot, learning and encouraging the own responsibility of detainees through a modified daily program takes a central position. The aim is to increase the self-sufficiency of detainees and to allow for life in prison to resemble more life outside (normalization). In this article we will look more closely at the experiences of prisoners and staff with the amended detention regime in the pilot.