Re: [JUSTICE] The Netherlands to close more prisons: Here’s what Australia could learn.

[John Newman]

Wow, at least a step in the right direction... looks 1000x more humane than American privatized gulag, where shareholder return is the primary concern...


John

> On Aug 18, 2016, at 5:48 AM, Zenaan Harkness <zen at freedbms.net> wrote:
> 
> An example worth highlighting, at least compared to the USA and
> Australian "justice" systems.
> 
> 
> ----- Forwarded message from Jim <jim.sovereign at optusnet.com.au> -----
> 
> The Netherlands to close more prisons: Here’s what Australia could learn
> 
> news.com.au
> Debra Killalea  
> August 3, 2016
> 
> 
> 
> Dutch Prison System: How it works
> 
> 
> THE days are filled playing sport, reading, and practising new skills.
> There is learning, course work and open communication with support
> networks is strongly encouraged.
> 
> This may sound like a great place to learn, but this isn’t a university
> or school campus.
> 
> It’s a prison and this is how the Dutch teach its offenders to keep out
> of trouble.
> 
> It may sound like a soft touch but with talk of closing prisons, the
> Dutch believe they have a lesson to teach the world when it comes to
> rehabilitation.
> 
> While some countries struggle with overcrowding in prisons and crime,
> the Netherlands intends to close its jails.
> 
> In March, the Dutch government revealed it had too many empty cells and
> not enough prisoners to fill them.
> 
> It announced it was strongly considering closing five prisons, on top of
> the 19 they already shut down last year because the national crime rate
> continues to fall.
> 
> Justice Minister Ard van der Steur told parliament that not only were
> judges imposing shorter sentences but criminals were spending less time
> in jail.
> 
> He also claimed less serious crime was being reported according to The
> Telegraaf.
> 
> The Dienst Justitiële Inrichtingen (DJI) Custodial Institutions Agency,
> which carries out the sentences, reveals more than 13,000 detainees are
> held in the country’s prison system.
> 
> This cost the government an estimated 2 billion euro a year.
> 
> In an effort to reduce that cost, DIJ treat those undertaking prison
> sentences a little differently and focus on rehabilitation rather than
> punishment.
> 
> According to a video produced last year by DJI, the philosophy behind
> their work involves reversing criminal behaviour and therefore reducing
> the risk of reoffending.
> 
> 
> It may look like a university dorm, but this is how prisoners live in
> the Netherlands. Picture: Youtube/DJI Source:YouTube
> 
> This involves an intense program of education, skill sharing and
> undertaking courses which will better serve detainees once they are
> released.
> 
> Detainees also have access to an intensive support network once they are
> back in the community.
> 
> Juveniles undergo more intensive programs with counselling, education
> and parental support all crucial to ensuring as many of the 1600
> youngsters in detention remain trouble free.
> 
> The crime rate in the Netherlands has decreased by an average of 0.9 per
> cent in recent years, Sputnik News reported.
> 
> Just like the German system, the focus in the Netherlands is keeping
> inmates engaged. Some even have the option of spending weekends at home.
> 
> Dutch prisons are full of social workers, mental health professionals
> and lawyers.
> 
> A 2013 VIJ report revealed the emphasis is on “therapeutic culture” for
> enabling inmates to return successfully to society.
> 
> In Germany, prison workers receive two years training before being
> placed in the system in Germany compared to five weeks in the US state
> of Colorado,Next Cityreported.
> 
> In both Germany and the Netherlands less than one in 10 convicted
> criminal offenders are sent to prison compared to 70 per cent in the US.
> 
> AUSTRALIAN PERSPECTIVE
> 
> Managing senior lawyer Jimmy Singh told news.com.au he believed we had a
> lot to learn from the European approach.
> 
> Mr Singh, from Sydney Criminal Lawyers, said Australia had high
> recidivism rates and the focus was on locking up offenders rather than
> keeping them out of the system.
> 
> “NSW has some of the highest recidivism rates in Australia,” he said.
> 
> “In NSW 48 per cent of inmates returned to prison within two years.”
> 
> Mr Singh said he believed the Dutch and Swedes had it right when it came
> to focusing on rehabilitation as recidivism rates were among the lowest
> the world.
> 
> 
> These cells are not what most of us imagine prison to look like.
> Picture: Youtube/DJI Source:YouTube
> 
> “Dr Don Weatherburn from the Australian Bureau of Crime Statistics even
> said between 2015-16 there was a 12 per cent increase in the prison
> population,” he said.
> 
> “In Europe the emphasis is on diversion and rehabilitation, here it is
> on punishment. I think the Europeans have definitely got it right.
> 
> “The statistics speak for themselves.”
> 
> He said he believed our tough bail laws and the scrapping of diversion
> programs such as the Court Referral of Eligible Defendants Into
> Treatment (CREDIT) was partly to blame.
> 
> He said sending people to jail didn’t always work especially when a
> first-time offender was imprisoned with inmates serving time for much
> more serious offences and mental health issues were not addressed.
> 
> Writing on the Sydney Criminal lawyers blog, Lawyer and Principal Ugur
> Nedim said the Dutch model was so successful even Norway was sending
> some of its prisoners there to fill the cells.
> 
> He pointed to falling crime rates in nearby Sweden as further proof the
> European model worked in reducing crime and reoffending rates.
> 
> “Sweden’s prison numbers fell by about 1 per cent per year from 2004 to
> 2011,” he writes.
> 
> “Then, between 2011 and 2012, they declined by 6 per cent.”
> 
> He also highlighted a decision by the Swedish Supreme Court in 2011 to
> give more lenient sentences for drug offences.
> 
> Mr Nedim said this meant inmates spent less time behind bars but also
> made it easier for offenders to return to society.
> 
> Source:
> http://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/real-life/news-life/the-netherlands-to-close-more-prisons-heres-what-australia-could-learn/news-story/5788f56ffdba69555254d4276c262406