Opinion piece: Change the system: more success!

‘That one report’ is a column in the Volkskrant in which Wil Thijssen interviews police officers about special events during their work. For example, 21 November 2021 saw the publication of a piece in which Andrea den Heijer spoke about an ex-Tbs'er, Leroy. Leroy ended up in her neighbourhood in a 9-square-metre room, where unfortunately he once again broke down and relapsed into his old behaviour. The social workers? They told him that if he did not behave, then they would no longer help him. Answering the question about what went wrong, Andrea den Heijer said: ‘the circumstances’. According to her, the circumstances are against the emergency services, but in our opinion, the problem is the emergency services' system (Volkskrant, 2021). From DWARS Limburg, we are writing this piece to show that we believe that if this system changes its approach towards ex-offenders (and other people who have been in prison), it will be more successful. Below, we explain why we think so.

When you read this story, as a reader you quickly think: ‘Why does a neighbourhood cop need to establish a relationship with someone who is on the radar of care services? During his reintegration process into society, why doesn't this man get help with finding a good place to live, or a decent job?’ Clearly he was being watched, but why didn't anyone intervene earlier?' The answer is simple: the system in which this ex-TBS man found himself is almost always doomed to fail.

The system was once devised to lock up and thereby punish those who had committed a crime, with the idea that afterwards they would have learned from their mistakes, and would not commit crime again. After further research, community service seems a better punishment for this, especially for minor crimes (Leiden University, 2021). In this way, according to research by Leiden University, giving a prison sentence has actually become an extreme and forced form of therapy . Imprisonment is combined with therapy as a kind of “learning school” to avoid making the same mistake again (Leiden University, 2021). The problem in this is that the purpose of prisons has changed, but the prison itself has not, nor have the people working in the system such as guards and judges. Therefore, the idea of a “learning school” does not succeed: 47% of ex-prisoners commit another criminal offence within two years, just like Leroy (WODC, 2019). Often, ex-prisoners cannot find work, hop from job to job, stay in miserable housing situations and have few social contacts (Leiden University, 2021). It also sounds very logical: If you end up in a learning school set up as a penal camp, you feel absolutely unhelpful. Perhaps an option is to accept prison as a learning school and not pretend that the more punitive attitude as before works better, quite the contrary. Make a prison more ‘flexible’ and ‘preferable’: an attitude of more tolerance, freedom, acceptance and seeing and hearing each other could make an ex-convict more hopeful, rather. Besides, it would also break more with our current ‘judgement culture’.

According to Leiden University's research, there is a particular need for help outside prison to look for employment (Leiden University, 2021). In our view, it does not stop with help for seeking employment. A long-term reintegration process is needed in which ex-convicts and certainly ex-TBs are guided in all the things they encounter. Looking for a job is one of them, but also looking for a house, having training for anger management, for example, and the possibility of an education. Because those who get perspective and confidence from others to grow have more hope for a better future and do not have to rob the supermarket for a little money. And the solutions to this are simple: social workers, priority queues and again: social workers. But of those real ones, who don't push their client away to a neighbourhood agent, but who build a rapport themselves, who take the time to really listen to and see and hear their client. In other words, an attitude towards the client that expresses trust, understanding and compassion would (could) be more successful.

References
Leiden University (2021). Appropriate punishment. Accessed 28 February 2022 from https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/wetenschapsdossiers/passende-straffen
The Volkskrant (2021). ‘I walk with a cancerous big knife’. Retrieved 28 February 2022 from https://www.volkskrant.nl/mensen/ik-loop-met-een-kankergroot-mes~b7446e68/
WODC (2019). Rise in recidivism among juvenile offenders. Retrieved 28 February 2022 from https://www.wodc.nl/actueel/nieuws/2019/07/01/stijging-recidive-onder-jeugdige- offenders