Criminal careers behind foreign bars: A latent class analysis of Dutch prisoners
| Author | Matthias van Hall,Laura Cleofa-Van der Zwet |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/20662203221144124 |
| Published date | 01 April 2023 |
| Date | 01 April 2023 |
| Subject Matter | Original Articles |
Original Article
European Journal of Probation
2023, Vol. 15(1) 22–39
© The Author(s) 2022
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DOI: 10.1177/20662203221144124
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Criminal careers behind foreign
bars: A latent class analysis of
Dutch prisoners
Matthias van Hall
Netherlands Institute for the Study of Crime and Law Enforcement, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Laura Cleofa-Van der Zwet
Dutch Probation Service, Utrecht, the Netherlands
Abstract
While at least 1900 Dutch prisoners are imprisoned abroad annually, existing knowledge
on this group of prisoners is often limited to descriptions about detention conditions. The
current study explores latent classes of criminal careers before entrance in foreign
prisons and whether reoffending behavior differed between the distinct typologies of
Dutch prisoners. Using registration and reconviction data, the results show four ty-
pologies: (a) high persistent offenders, (b) low-rate offenders, (c) sporadic offenders, and
(d) long-term incarcerated offenders. Furthermore, the results indicate that high per-
sistent offenders are more likely to get reconvicted after release from foreign prisons than
other typologies.
Keywords
Criminal career, reoffending, foreign detention, prisoners, foreign national prisoners
Introduction
In recent decades, the profile of prison populations around the world has become
increasingly heterogenous. Diverse nationalities, cultures, and languages can be
found in prisons around the world driven by increased globalization, trafficking,
and transnational crime (Atabay, 2009;Hofstee-van der Meulen, 2015;Van
Kalmthout et al., 2007). The diversity in prison populations certainly occurs in
Corresponding author:
Matthias van Hall, Netherlands Institute for the Study of Crime and Law Enforcement (NSCR), De Boelelaan
1077, Amsterdam 1008 BH, the Netherlands.
Email: mhall@nscr.nl
Europe. A recent report by Aebi and Tiago (2021: 64) showed that approximately
24% of all prisoners in Europe are foreign nationals.
The academic attention paid to the sub-population of forei gn national prisoners in
European prisons is, however, relatively limited (Turnbull and Hasselberg, 2017;
Ugelvik, 2014). Most existing studies have addressed the challenges faced by foreign
national prisoners during their period in foreign prisons (Croux et al., 2019;Hofstee-van
der Meulen, 2015) or the (traditional) pains of imprisonment (Ugelvik and Damsa, 2018).
These challenges include, for instance, not only cultural isolation, violence, discrimi-
nation, and language barriers but also fewer opportunities to participate in prison work,
educational programs, and release programs.
What is still lacking from the scientific literature on foreign national prisoners are
comparisons of criminal careers before they enter foreign prisons. Examining the extent to
which prisoners are involved in crime before imprisoned adds important knowledge to our
understanding about foreign national prisoners. Moreover, studying involvement in crime
prior to foreign prisons may provide organizations working with these prisoners with
valuable insights to their evidence-based strategies to efficiently reduce reoffending.
The current study investigates this among a group of Dutch prisoners who are im-
prisoned abroad. This study has two aims. The first aim is to assess whether typologies
based on Dutch prisoners’background characteristics can be determined. The second aim
is to examine whether reoffending behavior after release from foreign prisons differs
across the identified typologies of Dutch prisoners. To do so, longitudinal data from the
International Office—part of the Dutch Probation Service—and the Research and
Documentation Centre—part of the Ministry of Justice and Security—are used.
Literature on foreign national prisoners
Some studies on foreign national prisoners have adopted a somewhat unclear definition of
foreign national prisoners. In general, the term “foreign national prisoners”refers to a
heterogenous group of people who are incarcerated in a country to which they do not
belong (Hofstee-van der Meulen, 2015;Ugelvik, 2014;Van Kalmthout et al., 2007), but
specificdefinitions may vary (Atabay, 2009). For instance, Van Kalmthout and colleagues
(2007) use “prisoner”broadly to describe not only people who are held in penal in-
stitutions for committing a criminal offence but also people who are incarcerated in other
institutions, often highly similar to prisons, such as asylum seekers or irregular migrants
who are incarcerated pending deportation. This variation emphasizes the importance of
explicit definitions. The current study focuses on Dutch citizens who are incarcerated in
penal institutions in a country that is not their country of permanent residence because
they are suspected or convicted for committing a criminal offense (for similar definiti ons,
see Hofstee-van der Meulen, 2015;Vogelvang et al., 2015).
Foreign national prisoners—and Dutch prisoners in particular—are often imprisoned in
foreign prisons because of charges regarding drug-related offenses, such as the importation or
smuggling of illegal drugs (Miedema and Stolz, 2008;Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 2019;
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, 2006). Governments commonly impose high
prison sentences for drug-related offenses (Richards et al., 1995a,1995b), which has resulted
van Hall and Cleofa-Van der Zwet 23
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