Prison policy in Belgium and the Netherlands is changing rapidly. While Belgium struggles with a persisting prison overcrowding, the Netherlands strongly cuts back on the prison system and is closing an increasing number of prisons. This introductory article to a special issue on detention starts with a short outline of recent changes in Dutch and Belgian prison policy, focusing on developments in detention capacity and prison population. Subsequently we present an overview of empirical criminological research in the Netherlands and Belgium, situated within the international literature, with a specific focus on studies regarding life in detention and effects of detention on prisoners' lives and on their social environment. Finally, we reflect upon existing detention research in both countries, e.g. in terms of gaps in research topics and methodology, and discuss some future developments.

The detention experiences of male criminal foreign national prisoners without legal residence receive little attention in penological literature. A qualitative study amongst 30 prisoners with and 16 prisoners without legal residence in the penitentiary institution Tilburg shows that contacts with the social network and the preparation of the reintegration in society are (more) complicated for foreign national prisoners without legal residence. Besides, communication with the staff is more difficult for this group. These factors have negative impact on their detention experiences. The results show that both deprivation and importation theory apply to foreign national prisoners without legal residence. However, importation aspects – especially the lack of legal residence – may substantially and systematically increase the deprivation and result in additional exclusion and isolation mechanisms for this particular group.

Male inmate subcultures can be described as highly gendered settings where power relationships are based on a hierarchical gender order. Cultural idealized forms of masculinity provide an important foundation for these hierarchical rankings. Notions of hegemonic and subordinate masculinities offer a valuable theoretical framework for explaining the power relations and pecking order among male inmates. Drawing on observations and qualitative semi-structured interviews with prisoners in a medium-size Belgian male prison, this article analyses the various intermale dominance hierarchies among inmates and the discourses in which they are embedded: type of offence, social conduct, individual characteristics of the prisoners and the possession of different forms of capital. This article both stresses and nuances the importance of offence categories by explaining how hierarchical status can be enhanced through social performance and acting in accordance with the prison code. Additionally, it describes how hierarchical arrangements operate in the daily practice of prison life through spatial norms.

Employment is believed to function as a ‘turning point’ for released offenders. Several theories state that employment can diminish recidivism, and offer different mechanisms to connect employment and crime, such as job stability and job quality. This study examines the effect of employment and employment characteristics on recidivism among Dutch ex-prisoners. Although recidivism risks are high among this group, longitudinal research on the effect of employment on recidivism risks is scarce. We based our analyses on longitudinal data of the Prison Project (n=842) and found that job stability reduces the risk of recidivism. The results indicate that not the guidance to a job, or a high-quality job, but the guidance to stable employment could help to reduce crime rates among this high-risk offender group.

Not only detainees, but also their spouses can experience negative consequences of imprisonment. Even though these negative consequences can be far-reaching, research in this area is scarce. This paper researches if detention causes female partners of male detainees in the Netherlands to experience negative reactions from family, friends and neighbours and if this causes changes in their social contacts. This study used longitudinal data from the Prison Project on 119 partners of detainees. Results show that many partners of detainees receive negative reactions from their network members. When partners of detainees experience negative reactions from their family in law, friends or neighbours, their contacts with those groups decrease. When partners of detainees experience negative reactions from their friends, their contact with their family increases.