Trends in juvenile delinquency and juvenile justice policy in the Netherlands 2000-2023

• In Event: Serious youth violence in the Netherlands and judicial reactions to it

Abstract

Just as in most western countries juvenile crime trends in the Netherlands decreased enormously in the years 2000-2023. Compared to the peak years 2005-2008 in these decades police and justice registered juvenile crime more than halved, whether self-reported delinquency decreased with less than a quarter. Since 2017, the crime drop amongst juveniles appears to have stagnated and even reached a stable level in most recent years. However there are some exceptions, the number of minors convicted for serious crime increased between 2017-2021 followed by a decrease in 2022 and the number of suspects of knife crimes and shoplifting increased slightly in the most recent years. Moreover, crime seems to concentrate in specific neighborhoods, so called hotspots. During these two decades, the focus of juvenile justice has changed in roughly two directions. Firstly, for less serious crimes the approach is more focused on diversity and child-friendly justice. Secondly, the focus turned to a more strict approach to serious juvenile crime and juvenile delinquents, and a focus to prevention at neighborhood hotspots. Prevention at the local level and tailored made approach are buzzing concepts. Although both can be consistent with an evidence-based perspective, there are also risks of inequality and other bottlenecks in complying with children's rights in practice. In this presentation recent developments in the Netherlands in juvenile crime, justice policy and bottlenecks for compliance with children's and human rights in practice will be discussed.

Author

• André van der Laan, WODC (Research and Data Centre), the Netherlands