Juvenile sanctions for young adult offenders in the Netherlands: an opportunity for rehabilitation?

Abstract

Background: To improve rehabilitation and reduce recidivism, adolescent criminal law provides tailor-made sanctioning in which the emphasis is on the offender's development. This results in the possibility that juvenile sanctions, in which education, treatment and rehabilitation are central, can be applied to young adult offenders. It is unknown, however, whether there is a relationship between the developmental focus of adolescent criminal law and the rehabilitation of young adult offenders. Therefore, the aim of this study was to examine whether juvenile sanctions are efficacious in rehabilitating young adult offenders.

Methods: A quasi-experimental design was used with judicial observational data. From a total of young adults (n = 671) sentenced with juvenile sanctions and young adults (n = 7.221) sentenced with adult sanctions different subsamples were composed. The subsamples were based on distinct starting conditions: (1) young adults engaged in education or employment, (2) young adults without education, income or on unemployment benefits, (3) young adults living independently, and (4) young adults living with parents or institutionalized. Rehabilitation was operationalized as changes or stability in education/employment status and housing conditions two years after the sanction was imposed. Binary logistic regression analyses were used to assess the associations.

Results: Young adults who were engaged in education or employment before their conviction were more likely to maintain this status after a juvenile sanction (OR = 1.43, p < 0.05) than after an adult sanction. Young adults who were not engaged in education or employment had a lower chance (OR = 0.677, p < 0.05) of improving their status after a juvenile sanction than after an adult sanction. No significant differences were found for housing conditions.

Conclusions: By focusing on maintaining existing engagement in education and employment, juvenile sanctions align with the developmental needs of young adults and promote stability in their transition to mature societal roles. This study highlights the importance of reinforcing existing prosocial bonds and providing adequate support for those needing to establish new prosocial bonds.