How the UK can learn from Dutch and Norwegian prisons

 Yesterday, I went to the cinema in the Dome prison in Haarlem. This monumental building is one of more than 20 Dutch prisons that have closed in the past decade.

The Dutch have seen their prison population decrease by more than 40% over the past 20 years. At the other end of the spectrum, Britain has the highest rate of incarceration in western Europe, and is struggling with an unprecedented prisons crisis. Britain's prison minister, James Timpson, calls the Netherlands a source of inspiration.

The Convict
Marcus C. Stone (1840-1921)
Photo Credit: York Museums Trust [Public Domain]  

What could the Dutch system teach the rest of the world? First, the declining prison population is not actually the result of recent policies by visionary politicians. Much of it is due to changes in reported crime and the nature of crime. As in many other western countries, the number of violent crimes has significantly dropped in the Netherlands in recent decades...

The Dutch criminologist, Francis Pakes ... told me:

"There is less conventional violent crime, like murder. On the other hand, a lot of conventional crime went online and is less visible. And it is quite possible that there is a kind of organised crime that we have little visibility on."

But while the Dutch don't have a model policy the world can copy, the overall Dutch attitude towards imprisonment could be instructive. According to Pakes, the Dutch are much more aware that a stay in prison does more harm than good. Society may be rid of a criminal for a while, but in many cases criminals simply resume their activities when they leave prison...

This also applies to shorter sentences. Even these can completely turn an offender's life upside down. You can lose your job, home and social network. And you rarely become a better person during a short stay in jail.

Owing to the excesses during the Nazi occupation in the second world war, there is a culture in the Netherlands of not imposing long prison sentences. In Britain and also the US, the culture is different...

It is not uncommon for British judges to impose what seems to the Dutch relatively long sentences for minor offences. Dutch judges are much more inclined to give community service or a suspended sentence in similar cases. Research shows that this is not only cheaper but also reduces the likelihood of reoffending...

Apart from looking at  the Netherlands, Timpson might also consider the remarkable prison system of Norway. Its prisons are often small and very focused on reintegration. They are designed so that daily life can proceed as normally as possible...

(Renate van der Zee, The Guardian, 2024)

How is it that the Dutch prison population is decreasing so rapidly whilst in this country the prison population is rising?

How is it that the Dutch have come to recognise that a stay in prison, for less serious offences, usually does more harm than good? We know that reoffending rates are high in the UK but we still do not take a different approach. Good luck to James Timpson, the prisons' minister, who as a business man, has employed many ex-offenders.