Dans cette contribution, nous présentons les résultats d’une enquête menée dans les Etats membres du Conseil de l’Europe. Cette enquête est une extension d’une enquête par questionnaire menée en 2005 par des collègues du WODC dans tous les pays d’Europe (Wartna et Nijssen, 2006). En outre, cette enquête s’appuie sur les travaux d’un groupe de travail informel sur les taux de récidive nationaux qui s’est réuni ces dernières années dans le cadre des activités de la European Society of Criminology et d’autres réunions. Cette enquête se concentre sur les taux de récidive nationaux, avec un accent supplémentaire sur la présence de la recherche sur les carrières criminelles dans ces pays. Cette enquête a été menée au printemps 2023. Des informations ont été obtenues pour 40 pays et ont pu être analysées. Il en ressort que comparativement à 2005, la situation a considérablement évolué au cours de ces deux décennies. Plusieurs pays ont également indiqué qu’il existe désormais des recherches sur les carrières criminelles et/ou sur la criminologie du développement et du parcours de vie. Nous discutons de ces résultats et tirons quelques leçons pour l’avenir de la recherche sur les carrières criminelles en Europe.

Belgium means well. For many years, various laws have been adopted with the aim of curbing pre-trial detention, but its use remains problematic, while the spectre of mass supervision is looming as a result of the increased use of alternative coercive measures. The problem is well known, thanks in particular to the scientific research carried out for years on the subject. The importance given to the risk of recidivism is an explanatory factor for this alarming situation encountered by the Belgian State.

This study contributes to the existing literature dedicated to the empirical classification of homicide offenders. Utilizing an empirical method grounded in the criminal career framework, our aim was to enhance understanding of the diversity of the criminal pathways leading to homicide. We analysed the criminal careers of 5475 individuals convicted of intentional homicide in Belgium between 1995 and 2020, using data from the Belgian Central Criminal Records. We performed a latent class analysis using a series of 16 dichotomous indicators reflecting whether an individual had been convicted for specific offenses committed before the homicide (8 categories: e.g., violent crime) during different life periods (before or after age 25). The latent class analysis identified six distinct classes of homicide offenders, exhibiting varied criminal career patterns in terms of crime mix and continuity across life periods. The largest class (48

By comparing criminal careers of individuals who have sexually offended to those who have not sexually offended, the current study examines whether their criminal career parameters and trajectories differ. National conviction records (entire criminal history and about 18 years of follow-up after index offence) from Belgium and the Netherlands are used to describe and compare the criminal careers of individuals involved in sexual or non-sexual offending. Group-based trajectory models are estimated for each offender class per country. The results show no substantive differences between individuals convicted for sexual offences and individuals convicted for non-sexual offences on age of onset and termination, duration, frequency, and crime mix. Group-based trajectory modeling results in a four-group model with a low-level offending (± 65

Prisoner victimization introduces significant challenges to penal institutions worldwide. Researchers across the globe already provided extensive knowledge on risk factors from community crime theories for prison victimization. Other scholars are focusing on prison climate. The present study contributes to previous works by exploring both the role of community crime theory (individual, prisoner related) risk factors and prison climate dimensions in explaining prisoner victimization in Belgium. Three climate dimensions - relationships, safety and autonomy - were analyzed. Specifically, the study examined a sample of 1,006 prisoners using bivariate and multivariate regression analyses. The multivariate results showed that prison climate dimensions significantly contribute to explaining prisoner victimization, in addition to the other risk factors. These findings suggest that deprivation and strain theories remain relevant for understanding prison violence. Future researchers should study other prison climate dimensions, as well as environmental characteristics that may facilitate victimization. This paper also highlights the importance of investments in prison climate, such as dynamic security through relationships, in addition to hard security.

Depuis 1930, la Belgique dispose de deux mécanismes permettant soit l'allongement de certaines peines, soit l'indétermination de leur durée. Il s'agit, d'une part, de l'internement des délinquants anormaux et, d'autre part, de la mise à la disposition du gouvernement des récidivistes et délinquants d'habitude. En complément des autres présentations nationales du séminaire du GERN « Longues peines et peines indéfinies. Punir la dangerosité », l'objet de cette contribution est double : présenter le cadre normatif de ces mécanismes en en soulignant les grands enjeux tels qu'ils apparurent notamment dans les débats entre juristes et médecins ; juger de l'effectivité de ces mécanismes en examinant, tant que faire se peut, l'usage qui en a été fait.

In this article, the decision-making process of prison leave is discussed, and a discussion is given of the current impact of covid 19-measures for prison leave.

Phoning behind bars : an exploratory study into in-cell telephony Information and communication technologies have begun to enter into the penitentiary systems, adding a digital dimension to the detention experience (Maes et al., 2019). For some time now, prisoners in Belgium have access to television, radio and telephony after payment (Maes, 2009). Newly opened prisons even run a digital platform for prisoners, called PrisonCloud, which, alongside many other functions, allows prisoners to make telephone calls from within their cells (Robberechts & Beyens, 2020). From 2019 on, in-cell telephony also became available in the majority of other prisons. This contribution describes how prisoners’ access to and use of digital technologies affect living and working in prison. We focus on the experiences of prisoners and prison officers and on the extent to which the shift from telephony on the landings to in-cell telephony impacts their experiences. Based on in-depth interviews with prisoners and prison officers in three prisons with and without in-cell telephony, the (dis)advantages of in-cell telephony and the impact on the tasks of prison officers and the contacts between staff and prisoners will be discussed.

In deze bijdrage blikken we terug op recente wijzigingen in de besluitvorming omtrent uitgaansvergunningen (verder: UV) en penitentiaire verloven (verder: PV). Als startpunt nemen we de bevindingen van een onderzoek uit 2012-2013 dat door onderzoekers van het Nationaal Instituut voor Criminologie en Criminalistiek (NICC) werd uitgevoerd.6 Die studie kwam er op vraag van het Directoraat-generaal Penitentiaire Inrichtingen (kortweg: DG EPI), naar aanleiding van spanningen die destijds bestonden tussen gevangenisdirecteurs - die een advies moeten geven - en de Directie Detentiebeheer (verder: DDB) - die een beslissing neemt. Uit de studie bleek onder meer dat positieve directieadviezen weinig garantie vormden op een toekenning van UV of PV en dat UV en PV spaarzaam werden toegekend (zie verder). In deze bijdrage traceren we of daarin veranderingen gekomen zijn. Met andere woorden: is de besluitvorming inzake UV en PV sedert 2012 veranderd en, zo ja, hoe?

Background: Prisons in Belgium are increasingly affected by the digital turn, which challenges living and working in it. Initiatives include e-learning, in-cell telephone, and a video call-project. Newly opened prisons in Belgium even run a digital platformfor prisoners, called PrisonCloud. So far, research studying digitalisation in prison is scarce. The aim of this research is therefore to assess how prisoners’ access to and use of digital technologies affect living and working in prison. Method: As part of a larger project, in which ethnographic research was conducted in a PrisonCloud prison, three prisons with a different extent of (non-PrisonCloud) digitalisation were selected: one prison with and one prison without in-cell telephone, and one prison with video-call possibilities. In these prisons, interviews were conducted with prisoners (n=18) and prison officers (n=14), focusing on their experiences on the access to and the use of digital technologies in prison and the impact of digitalisation on living and working in prison. Results: This presentation will focus on the impact of the access to and use of digital technologies on the experiences of prisoners, on the experiences, tasks and functions of prison officers, and on the prisoner-staff relationships. Based on the results of this study, the development of a survey about digitalisation will be discussed, challenges will be highlighted and recommendations will be formulated.