Recall to prison in Belgium: Back-end sentencing in search of reintegration

In recent years, the United States and England and Wales have witnessed growing re-incarceration rates. This growth is not only due to the courts sending more people to prison (‘front-end sentencing’), but also due to an increasing number of revocations of early release measures, mainly following te...

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Bibliographische Detailangaben
1. VerfasserIn: Beyens, Kristel (VerfasserIn)
Beteiligte: Breuls, Lars ; De Pelecijn, Lana ; Roosen, Marijke ; Scheirs, Veerle
Medienart: Elektronisch Aufsatz
Sprache:Englisch
Veröffentlicht: 2020
In: Probation journal
Jahr: 2020, Band: 67, Heft: 1, Seiten: 6-25
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Schlagwörter:
Conditional release
Social reintegration
back-end sentencing
recall to prison
Beschreibung
Zusammenfassung:In recent years, the United States and England and Wales have witnessed growing re-incarceration rates. This growth is not only due to the courts sending more people to prison (‘front-end sentencing’), but also due to an increasing number of revocations of early release measures, mainly following technical violations of licence conditions (so called ‘back-end sentencing’). However, it is unclear whether the same phenomenon exists in other (European) countries. Therefore, we empirically studied prison recall decision-making processes in Belgium by file analysis, complemented with focus groups with the decision makers involved in the recall process of prisoners with a sentence of more than three years. We found that the recall process in Belgium is embedded in a strong narrative of ‘giving chances’ and that all decision makers deploy a large amount of discretion, which they use to make deliberate decisions in an attempt to facilitate parolees’ reintegration process. Non-compliance with imposed conditions does not automatically lead to recall and even when a parolee is sent back to prison, recall is framed by the decision makers as a step in the reintegration process, not the end of it.
ISSN:1741-3079
DOI:10.1177/0264550519900227