Contrasts in Tolerance: Criminal Justice Policies in The Netherlands and England (From Contrasts in Tolerance, P 189-206, 1988, David Downes -- See NCJ-116928)

• NCJ Number: 116935
• Author(s): D Downes
• Date Published: 1988
• Length: 18 pages
• Sale Source: Oxford University Press, Inc
• Publication Type: Survey (Cross-Cultural)
• Language: English
• Country: United Kingdom

Annotation

This comparison of criminal justice policies in The Netherlands and England emphasizes the different ways the two nations are responding to the crisis in penal capacity resulting from rising crime and recommends that policymakers in England consider reforms that would result in less use of imprisonment as well as humane standards and the minimum use of pain in the dispensation of criminal justice.

Abstract

The main problems in the British system are the failure to use noncustodial measures and the lack of measures in the larger society to check the rise in crime. In contrast, the problem has arisen earlier in the criminal justice process and results from the commitment to keep the size of the prison population within the limit set by penal capacity. Although the Dutch experience provides no easy guidelines for reform, the Dutch policies continue to be more conducive to reducing the prison population than are those in England. The policies in The Netherlands are also more effectively coordinated than are those in England and seem to result from the view that crime is best addressed by social and institutional rather than penal means. The Dutch experience also suggests the need for an array of policies rather than one or two initiatives to influence the sentencing process.