The Dutch prison system

We live in a world today where crime is on a perennial rise. It has become unsafe for even innocent children to wander around in garden with gay abandon. Prisons all over the world are brimming and over flowing with inmates – rapists, murderers, robbers, fraudsters. But Netherlands has a piquant situation. Its prisons are actually running empty; so much so that over the years 19 prisons have shut down and some more are to be shut down next year.

The Dutch prison system works on the ‘cause’ of the crime and does not act as a punishment service. A prisoner with drug problem is treated for his addiction; one who is aggressive is taught anger management, those with financial offences are even given debt counselling. Persistent offenders are given two-year sentences and tailor-made rehabilitation programmes. Fewer than 10% then return to prison after their release. Better rehabilitation is not the only reason for the sharp decline in the Dutch prison population - from 14,468 in 2005 to 8,245 last year - a drop of 43%. Police have shifted their focus away from drugs and now concentrate on fighting human trafficking and terrorism.

The prisons there has ample space, open spaces are huge - exercise yards the size of four football pitches feature oak trees, picnic tables and volleyball nets. Detainees are allowed to walk unaccompanied to the library, to the clinic or to the canteen and this autonomy helps them to adapt to normal life after their sentence.