ABSTRACT
It seems rather ironic to be asked for ‘the Dutch perspective’ in a predominantly British book on community justice. After all, most of the Dutch developments in this field were inspired by the British (and Canadian) model. One could even argue that this already started with the foundation in 1823 of the Dutch Fellowship for Moral Reformation of Prisoners (Het Nederlands Genootschap tot Zedelijke Verbetering der Geuangenen), an event that was undeniably influenced by the establishment of the British Society for the Reformation of Prison Discipline and the Reformation of Juvenile Offenders' in 1816. The British reader therefore will have a feeling of déjá vu sometimes, although some of the developments I describe are typical for the pragmatic Dutch law culture that so easily leads to indifference (Van de Bunt and Leuw 1995, Van Koppen 2003). On the other hand, some of the developments in the field of community justice that are already fully implemented in the United Kingdom, for example What Works, have only just started in the Netherlands.
