U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government, Department of Justice.

NCJRS Virtual Library

The Virtual Library houses over 235,000 criminal justice resources, including all known OJP works.
Click here to search the NCJRS Virtual Library

Recidivism Report 2002-2008 Trends in the Reconviction Rate of Dutch Offenders

NCJ Number
238510
Author(s)
B.S.J. Wartna; N. Tollenaar; M. Blom; S.M. Alma; I.M. Bregman; A.A.M. Essers; E.K. van Straalen
Date Published
December 2011
Length
18 pages
Annotation
This fact sheet presents recidivism data on the following categories of Dutch offenders: juveniles and adults who were sanctioned by a court or Public Prosecutor's Service (PPS) or released from a prison in the years between 2002, the first year of the target period, and 2008, the latest year for which statistics are currently available.
Abstract
For a third consecutive year, Dutch criminal recidivism has decreased on a broad front. The latest measurements of the WODC Recidivism Monitor indicate another slight reduction of the percentages of adult and juvenile offenders who were reconvicted within 2 years. The last year of the study pertains to persons who were sanctioned by a court or PPS in 2008, or who were released from prison during that year. From 2004, the percentage of repeat adult offenders sanctioned by a court or PPS decreased slightly. Of the adults, 27.5 percent sentenced in 2008 relapsed within 2 years. In 2002, this was 30.8 percent. For juvenile offenders, the decline in recidivism started somewhat later. The national reconviction rate for this population decreased from 2006. In 2002, this was 39.1 percent. In 2008, 35.9 percent of all minors disposed by a court or PPS were prosecuted again within 2 years after the index case. In the last few years, the reconviction rate for ex-prisoners decreased as well; in 2008, recidivism of ex-prisoners was 48.5 percent; in 2002, it was 55.2 percent. The 2-year reconviction rate among former inmates of juvenile detention centers who were released in 2002 was 55.3 percent; for juveniles released in 2008, it was 52 percent. 1 table, 2 figures, 12 references, and appended supplementary tables