RT Article
T1 Juvenile sanctions for young adults in the Netherlands: A developmental perspective
JF European journal of criminology
VO 18
IS 4
SP 526
OP 546
A1 Laan, A. M. van der
A2 Barendregt, Charlotte S.
A2 Beerthuizen, Marinus G.C.J.
LA English
YR 2021
UL https://krimdok.uni-tuebingen.de/Record/1764062485
AB Since 2014 it has been possible to apply juvenile criminal law to young adults aged from 18 up to and including 22 years old in the Netherlands. This policy change is referred to as the Adolescent Criminal Law (ACL). According to the theory behind ACL, providing special treatment within the juvenile justice system to young adults during their transition into adulthood could reduce recidivism. In order to determine the relevance and impact of ACL regarding the application of juvenile sanctions to young adults, in this study a ‘Recently Introduced Policy instrument’ (RIPI) evaluation was conducted. The results suggest that applying juvenile justice sanctions to young adults could offer opportunities to cut short criminal careers and reduce crime amongst young adults. In addition, we found that the proportion of juvenile sanctions applied to young adults has increased despite the overall crime drop amongst young adults. Implications of our findings are discussed.
K1 emerging adulthood
K1 increasing maximum age of juvenile law
K1 psychosocial immaturity
K1 Young adult offenders
DO 10.1177/1477370819854163