NCJ Number
79140
Date Published
1980
Length
77 pages
Annotation
The annual research plan for the Center for Scientific Studies and Documentation of the Dutch Ministry of Justice is presented.
Abstract
The research plan is designed to coordinate the year-to-year research efforts of the center's 14 researchers. Research is designed to identify Government policy goals and to ascertain whether they are being realized, to what extent, and at what cost. Research areas reviewed are administration of justice, police, crime trends, legislation, adaptations of criminal law, and other projects. Research on the administration of justice has concentrated mainly on substantive aspects of criminal law, while civil law and the organization of the administration of justice have received little attention. Police research efforts are devoted to longitudinal studies of crime control, crime prevention, and criminal investigation in various Dutch cities. The central focuses of research on Dutch crime trends are the subjective and objective risks of Dutch citizens becoming victims of minor crimes and the interaction among the fine policy of the Ministry of the Interior, the fine policy of the police, and the reporting behavior of the citizenry. Legislative research focuses attention on the way in which laws come about and the effects that they have in practice; either the organization or the effectiveness of the legislative process may be of central interest. Research on applications of criminal law, long at an impasse because of negative findings about treatment success, is mainly concerned with the effectiveness of prison sentences of various lengths, rehabilitation especially in the form of early assistance to offenders, and treatment for psychologically disturbed offenders. Miscellaneous projects cover such matters as following up individuals who came into contact with the criminal justice system in 1966 and contacts of foreigners with the law.