ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the potential effects of detention and the importance of support for detainees. It focuses on the reintegration of detainees in general. Locking people in prison has various goals. The most traditional goal is to protect society from dangerous people. In recent decades, prison sentences in many countries are increasingly seen as opportunities to prepare detainees for an effective return to society and to influence characteristics that have contributed to an inmate's criminal behaviour. Desistance is the process of 'stepping away from crime' and denouncing future offending behaviour. The work of Shadd Maruna offers relevant additional insights in the relationship between desistence and cognitive change. According to labelling theory the deviant label criminal, complicates the reintegration process. All reintegration programmes, both during and after detention, focus on supervising and monitoring prisoners, on providing assistance and guidance in solving practical problems and on helping establish a social network.
