Compatible victims? Prison overcrowding and penal reform in Belgium

Daems, Tom

doi:10.1016/j.ijlcj.2008.04.001

Cited by 5 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 1 publication

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…This commission was active from March 2000 to mid-2003. The first two parts of its assignment eventually resulted in two new laws in May 2006, which, however, have not been implemented adequately, if at all, in actual practice (see, further, Daems, 2008Daems, , 2011Snacken et al, 2010).…”

Section: Criminal Justice Reform Since the Late 1990smentioning

confidence: 99%

Crime, criminal justice and criminology in Belgium

Daems

Maes

Robert

2013

European Journal of Criminology

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

For criminologists, Belgium is at once an interesting and a very complex country. Belgium is one of the first European countries where criminology became institutionalized in the universities. As for criminal justice, in many ways Belgium can be situated in the European middle. One feature of Belgium is its institutional complexity, with a push towards devolving decision-making powers from the federal level to its entities. This recently led to the longest period of post-election government negotiations in a democratic country: for more than 500 days, the country had no real federal government. Current agreements on a future sixth reform of the federal state include devolving matters of justice to the regions and language-based communities. Moreover, since the mid-1990s Belgium has been going through a period of unprecedented criminal justice reform, in various key areas such as policing, the prison system and victim policy. However, the persistent overcrowding of Belgian prisons has hampered various reform efforts and has determined the course of penal policy in recent decades

show abstract

Section: Criminal Justice Reform Since the Late 1990smentioning

confidence: 99%

Crime, criminal justice and criminology in Belgium

Daems

Maes

Robert

2013

European Journal of Criminology

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Power is at play in the recognition of the 'legitimate victim', and a certain image of what a 'real' victim is can be very influential (Daems, 2008). Victim support might depart from an 'ideal' perspective of the victim: consistent, rational, self-disciplined and blameless (Gottel, 2002).…”

Section: A Social Perspective On Victims and Victim Supportmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In this light, it is important to look at the applied image of victims in victim support, particularly in relation to the question of who is recognized as a victim and who is not. Power is at play in the recognition of the ‘legitimate victim’, and a certain image of what a ‘real’ victim is can be very influential (Daems, 2008). Victim support might depart from an ‘ideal’ perspective of the victim: consistent, rational, self-disciplined and blameless (Gottel, 2002).…”

Section: A Social Perspective On Victims and Victim Supportmentioning

confidence: 99%

Working with volunteers in victim support: Mirror or camouflage?

Roose

Verschelden

Vettenburg

et al. 2011

International Social Work

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Other pressures for change have been practical rather than ideological. In a number of the criminal justice systems in Europe and the common law world, imprisonment rates have risen steadily over the past three decades, often unrelated to increases in the crime rate, and have put pressure on limited and inadequate prison systems and state budgets (Daems 2008).…”

Section: Imprisonment Rates Penal Populism and The Criminal Processmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Pressures for change are evident in other parts of the criminal justice system as a result of increasing crime and imprisonment rates (Tonry 2006). The inquisitorial system has not been immune to criticism for lengthy court dockets, excessive delay and overcrowded prisons (Daems 2008;Nelken 2009: 303). In 1989, the Italian court system moved from a purely inquisitorial to a mixed system partly because of extensive delays in getting cases to court -some lasting up to 10 years (Glendon et al 2007: 913; see also Nelken 2009: 302).…”

Section: Imprisonment Rates Penal Populism and The Criminal Processmentioning

confidence: 99%

Post-adversarial and post-inquisitorial justice: Transcending traditional penological paradigms

Freiberg

2010

European Journal of Criminology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Criminal justice systems are under constant strain. Rising case loads, crowded court dockets, growing prison populations and high recidivism rates have resulted in growing frustration with systems that have been criticized as being expensive, out of date, complex, unfair, slow and lacking regard for victims of crime and for the public generally. One consequence of these criticisms has been a search for different and innovative methods of dealing with crime and associated social problems. In a number of common law countries, theories and practices of restorative justice and therapeutic jurisprudence have developed, creating more inclusive, optimistic and positive frameworks for justice systems and transforming the ways in which dispute resolution systems are conceived of and operate. In these jurisdictions, the growth of interest in different modes of dispute resolution reflects a deep disenchantment with the traditional, confrontational techniques that are inherent in the common law adversarial system. Though therapeutic jurisprudence and restorative justice are the best-known of such theories, they are not the only ones to have been developed, articulated and practised. The purpose of this paper is to suggest that some of these innovations could be considered by inquisitorial systems, albeit with due regard to the historical, political and cultural differences between the two systems. It argues that adversarial and inquisitorial justice systems should be transformed rather than hybridized, hence the terms ‘postadversarial’ and ‘post-inquisitorial’ justice.

show abstract

Compatible victims? Prison overcrowding and penal reform in Belgium

Cited by 5 publications

References 1 publication

Crime, criminal justice and criminology in Belgium

Crime, criminal justice and criminology in Belgium

Working with volunteers in victim support: Mirror or camouflage?

Post-adversarial and post-inquisitorial justice: Transcending traditional penological paradigms

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About