Track Development in and Around Correctional Institutions for Juvenile Offenders (Trajectvorming in en rond de Justitiele Jeugdinrichtingen)

• NCJ Number: 190032
• Author(s): W. Bernasco
• Date Published: May 2001
• Length: 99 pages
• Sale Source: Netherlands Ministerie Van Justitie
• Publication Format: Document
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Country: Netherlands
• Note: English Summary included

Annotation

This study examined the extent to which juvenile correctional institutions in the Netherlands used the "track" approach, which involved planned and stepwise activities aimed at the solution of problems that had been diagnosed.

Abstract

Specifically, the study determined the extent to which treatment and supervision were based on explicit planning; what procedures and criteria were being used in decisions regarding selection and placement; the extent to which institutions used temporal and structural differentiation; the extent to which institutions were involved in aftercare; and which sector-transcending tracks had been developed and implemented. To answer these questions, the researchers interviewed representatives (mostly general managers and treatment managers) from all 16 juvenile correctional institutions. There are two main types of juvenile correctional institutions in the Netherlands: custodial institutions and treatment institutions. Custodial institutions serve both as pretrial detention centers and as "youth prisons" for juvenile offenders convicted by a juvenile court. Juveniles were placed in treatment institutions by a juvenile court if it was determined that their offending behavior was due to a developmental disorder. The study found that all custodial and treatment institutions formulated written plans for guidance and treatment, but the planning did not encompass aftercare. Regarding aftercare, this was generally not considered a task of juvenile correctional institutions. Referral to aftercare services was hindered by the reluctance of community-based services to receive clients with difficult behavioral problems. The researchers suggested that the willingness of aftercare providers to accept juvenile offenders could be stimulated by giving them the option to return a young offender, within a certain period, to the original institution if the juvenile posed serious problems to the aftercare provider. This suggested that juvenile offenders should be placed in an institution near their community of residence. 11 references