NCJ Number
89200
Date Published
1982
Length
49 pages
Annotation
Among ex-patients of the Netherlands' Dr. Henri van der Hoeven Clinic for criminal offenders, those released on parole are better off than those transferred to another institution.
Abstract
The object of the study was to determine the relationship between the way ex-patients function after release from the Clinic and the treatment they received while there. The Netherlands government detains persons guilty of a felony for which they cannot be held responsible. The sample consisted of 321 such ex-patients. Since 1962, the number of patients released on parole rose, while the number transferred to another institution fell. From 1955 on, the average age of patients dropped due to changes in court practices. Three-quarters of the patients went absent without leave for longer than one day on at least one occasion. It was during this time that one-third of the offenders committed further offenses. After final release, twice as many transferred patients as paroled patients received at least one further conviction. Ex-patients also experienced low employment, low incomes, a low marriage rate, and difficulties from drug and alcohol abuse. Between the two categories of transferred ex-patients -- those transferred directly and those transferred after an unauthorized absence -- those in the latter category adjusted much better on re-entry into society. Many patients disapproved of the method of their treatment; a majority of those transferred even believed the treatment was harmful. Eight tables and twenty-three footnotes are provided.