In 2023 the Dutch prison service commissioned Dr Sharon Shalev, an independent researcher and Research Associate at the Centre for Criminology at Oxford University, to examine how and why isolation was used in Dutch prisons, and what residents, frontline staff and prison managers thought about the practice. The study’s findings and recommendations were examined by an expert group of prison leaders set up for this purpose by the Dutch prison service. The expert group formulated a new vision, based on the recommendations, aimed at reducing and humanising isolation practices across the Dutch prison estate. Local ‘implementation teams’ are now working to implement these general directives locally. The project demonstrates how an open minded and mutually respectful approach can result in a fruitful collaboration between a prison service and an independent researcher, and lead to tangible changes on the ground.
The use of isolation is a particularly sensitive area of prison policy and practice, where long-standing sentiments and practices are often entrenched and change is difficult to achieve.
