Harmonious relationships among people are necessary to restore harmony with our natural environment and make sustainable life on the planet possible. The lion’s share of attention when criminal laws are violated goes to punishing the perpetrator. Cultivating victimhood, on the other hand, also leads to more and longer punishments which just makes recovery more difficult. To put it mildly, the concept of the classic prison appears to have little compatibility with dialogue and equality. A multitude of small-scale, community-based forms of detention houses that replace the old prisons can allow for differentiation and can better involve the social environment in what happens during punishment. But not only does public law need to care more about the private interests of involved parties, private law also needs to learn to rethink community building. Hopefully, small-scale detention houses will challenge their environment in this sense.

In their article, Gert Jan Slump and Jacques Claessen provide a restorative justice perspective on liberty-restricting and -depriving sentences. About 85% of the cases in which a prison sentence is currently imposed in the Netherlands involve custodial sentences of less than six months. Precisely in those cases, according to the authors, an alternative with more focus on resocialization/rehabilitation and restoration should be given priority. This should primarily involve community service and electronic detention. Moreover, in the context of these criminal sanctions, there is much more room to work on the so-called four restorative justice challenges: restoration/recovery of the self, restoration with one’s own network, restoration with the victim and restoration with community and society. According to the authors, this may also be the case in the context of small-scale detention, characterized by the principles of proximity and normalization. Also, this form of ‘societal detention’ can offer a solution for offenders who, for lack of their own home, do not qualify for electronic home detention. Finally, Slump and Claessen identify developments within the forensic context that are relevant for shaping detention of the future, of which they give an outline at the end of their contribution.

This article aims to shed more light on the influence of a forensic psychiatric context on restorative mediation, and relatedly, victim-offender contact. In order to achieve this, empirical data on victim-offender contact in a forensic setting as conducted by Perspectief Herstelbemiddeling, an independent Dutch mediation agency, is used. First the frequency and type of restorative mediation in this context are discussed. Following, on the basis of a qualitative analysis of logs of mediations and interviews with staff members of Perspectief Herstelbemiddeling, we report on the practice of victim-offender contact in a forensic psychiatric setting, focusing on psychopathology and the treatment context, the outcome of mediation in this context and the evaluation by participants. Although this context concerns only a small share of the total number of mediations, our study shows that restorative mediation can be a good option in a forensic setting. What is more, about half the cases concern known victims highlighting the importance of restorative mediation even more.

What room is there for restorative justice in the enforcement of (life) long prison sentences? Based on the current international and national legal-normative framework, this contribution argues that there is room for restorative justice in the enforcement phase. Moreover, based on ECtHR case law and legal sociology literature, it argues that rehabilitation and restorative justice are inextricably linked. Life prisoners should be offered a real prospect of release, given ECtHR case law. Release may follow if the offender has made sufficient progress in his rehabilitation. For that to actually happen, attention must be paid to restorative justice during execution. It is observed that attention to restorative justice is largely lacking in the current laws and regulations on the enforcement of (life) long prison sentences, but also that there are opportunities to embed restorative justice more firmly in them.

In this practice oriented contribution an overview is given on the state of affairs of restorative justice related initiatives and developments in various detention settings in the Flemish part of Belgium. An introductory section first provides a contextualisation of restorative detention within the general development of restorative justice in Belgium since the early 1990s. This is followed by a concise, but complete overview of restorative justice practices and programmes in residential centres for juvenile delinquents: both victim-offender mediation programmes and other restorative justice initiatives are presented, as they have become an integral part of trajectories in the treatment of young persons. Then, restorative justice programmes in prisons working with adult offenders are discussed. These relate to restorative justice practices in a strict sense, such as victim-offender mediation, but also concern dialogue groups between victims and offenders and mediation in non-related cases, and the operation of a compensation fund based on dialogue with the victim and voluntary work by the inmate. Other restorative oriented developments in prisons are being dealt with as well, as they are part of rehabilitation programmes offered by social services in the community. Special attention is given to the recent development of small-scale detention and transition houses and their potential to implement restorative approaches, focusing on their close relationship with local communities. The overview of restorative detention in Flanders concludes with some critical reflections on the scope and the hoped-for innovative character of institutional reform.

In Dutch prisons restorative ways of working are integrated more and more in the daily life and training modules for the detainees. In some of the correctional institutions a special person dedicated to the topic is hired; the so-called ‘restorative consultant’ (herstelconsulent). Evert Kampert is such a consultant and works for several years in the prison in Nieuwegein. He describes in this practice note how they work on a restorative prison culture. This is a culture where they try to motivate everyone working within the institution to focus on restoring the disturbed relationship between the offender, his network, the victim and society. It is also a culture where it is normalized to talk about the offence and what can be done to avoid such mistakes again. One of the trainings Kampert is involved with is called ‘Clearing Rubble’ (Puinruimen). The course is explained in detail.

This article discusses transmural restorative work focusing on children with fathers in detention. It highlights the significant impact of parental incarceration on childrens’ well-being and emphasizes the need for a restorative approach to address their needs. The project that is being discussed, ‘Parent in Prison’, aims to explore how these children can be identified and supported through action research. One of the main challenges within the project is the collaboration among all practice partners and clarifying the roles and tasks, as well as responsibilities towards these families. We conclude that in order to identify, reach and support these children and their families, all parties have to acknowledge the severe impact of parental incarceration on children and take shared ownership over the unintended consequences of the detention through working together restoratively.

The theater performance Terecht created by theatermaker Maarten Smit, begins in a church that has been transformed into a courtroom. The story revolves around the criminal justice system in the Netherlands and is based on interviews with (former) prisoners, victims, and experts. The performance aims to make the audience reflect on the flaws and imperfections of this system, with an emphasis on miscommunication and the dilemmas faced by all involved parties, including offenders, lawyers, prosecutors, and judges. The perspective of the offender is central, but the intention is not to portray them as victims but rather to highlight the complexity of the criminal justice process. After the performance, a former prisoner shares his experiences and the second chance he has received.
Experts, including former prison director Frans Douw, emphasize that the performance underscores the flaws in the criminal justice system and aims to provide a nuanced perspective. They advocate for a more compassionate approach to convicted individuals and highlight how the current practice often unjustly stigmatizes people.
The performance is intended for a wide audience and seeks to make the complexity and imperfections of the criminal justice system relatable. Various organizations have shown interest in repeating the performance in 2024, hoping to reach a larger audience and raise awareness about this important societal issue.
The performance can be booked by organizations and institutions from September to December 2024. For inquiries, please contact contact@wabisabitheater.nl.