Journey to the probation history: the Dutch case

In 1823 the Netherlands Society for Moral Improvement of Prisoners was founded. The society was a private initiative, without any government interference. The members of the society (all volunteers) did not agree with the way punishment took shape in the Netherlands. Imprisonment at that time was purely focused on retribution. Prisoners learned nothing during their captivity. Justice hoped the prisoners would come for self-understanding by imprisonment and would improve their lives. Unfortunately, this happened rarely and most former prisoners, once free again fell back into their old behavior. The Society for Moral Improvement wanted to stimulate prisoners to change their behavior by offering them shelter and education, learning them more skills. This way of thinking was supported by studies from scientists who started a discussion about usefulness and uselessness of imprisonment, human rights and minimum conditions for building and standards for internal organization. Until 1900 government did not interfere with the aid. It was all about charity.

During the 20th century, the government realized that isolation from society had little effect. The importance of education and the learning of other behaviors was recognized. Moreover, it was more and more clear that crime linked to the social conditions under which some people lived. This also increased the focus on prevention. In 1910 was the first Law on Probation Activities was established. That law refers to both conditional imprisonment, as well as the conditional release. This gave the probation a clear task in terms of guidance and supervision of (ex-) prisoners. As a result, a new task for the probation appeared: report to justice. Because in case of relapse or breaking the conditions the public prosecutors and the judges wanted to be informed about the suspect. His situation, his behavior and consequences of certain sanctions, before to come to a verdict.

After the World War II, the prison system was significantly improved. During the Second World War many Dutch bourgeoisie, that never had seen a prison from the inside before, had been imprisoned by the occupier; including a lot of policemen, lawyers, public prosecutors and judges. From upon their own experiences they promoted the establishment of pretrial reports. No citizen should be sent to prison without a thorough research by the probation in order to inform the public prosecutors and judges about person and circumstances of the offender. In 1945, the Dutch Association of Former Political Prisoners started a campaign aimed at reorganizing the prison system. Isolation alone cannot improve a criminal, was their motto. This improved the position and the public support for the probation. More governmental money was allocated for employees and for the development of their professionalism.

From upon the 60’s (the so-called flower power area) in the Netherlands, and consequently within the Dutch the Probation, the leading idea about crime was that ALL crime is caused by social injustice. A perpetrator was seen as the victim of his childhood and / or society. In the 80’s the Probation chanced her identity, vision, mission and methodologies enormously. Crime is perhaps partly due to poor social conditions, but offenders are not unwilling victims. The responsibility of criminals is nowadays seen as increasingly important factor. The probation service itself is organized far more businesslike, the probation officers are well trained to work with scientifically developed methods as Risk assessments and Motivational Interviewing.

What could be learned of this brief history of the Dutch probation experience?

First of all, there is not and cannot be and will not be a fixed model of probation or even the best probation model that would fit to all countries. Probation is related to national laws, specific cultural aspects within separate societies, demography, economy, politics, coincidental historical developments, time-related visions and views and a lot more variants. In other words, do not try to find the Holy Grail! Because you will not find it.

However, having said so, there is a lot of information that can help you draft your laws and develop your own best probation service. The European Probation Rules could perfectly be used as a guidebook to develop your Probation Service in accordance to international standards; as a key part in helping the justice system to maximise the wider financial effectiveness and social benefits.

The rules do not prescribe the design of organizations, they focus on the identification of the basic values were regulations, activities, protocols and procedures should be built on. Basic values that are in line with the Human Rights and a fair criminal justice process.

Ben Zengerink,

Project Deputy Leader

EU project "Enhancing Criminal Justice in Kazakhstan"