Hanze in prison: a look behind bars

​In the Netherlands, about 25,000 children have a parent in prison. The Penitentiary Institution (PI) Veenhuizen, location Esserheem, has a special department for fathers in detention: the Father's Wing. The Hanze Living Lab 'Family Approach in Penitentiary Institutions' has been conducting research here since 2018. We take a look behind bars.

Inside

When the phones are in a locker, the IDs have been checked and the detection gates give the green light, the door unlocks in the former educational institution in the Colony of Benevolence in Veenhuizen, which was declared a World Heritage Site by Unesco in 2021. Majestic oak trees set the courtyard of the Penitentiary in autumn colours. Prisoners play sports and smoke cigarettes.

The Ombudsman for Children

In 2017, Children's Ombudsman Margrite Kalverboer sounded the alarm: not a single prison in the Netherlands is child-friendly, while there are an estimated 25,000 children in the Netherlands with a parent in detention. Depressive feelings, stress, anger, sadness and a greater chance of antisocial behaviour are the consequences that children with a parent in detention suffer from more often than their peers. They also have a greatly increased risk of ending up in detention themselves later on (source: Venema et al., 2022). In addition, the recidivism rate among ex-prisoners is high: 47 percent reoffend after two years. Since 2018, the Living Lab Family Approach in Penitentiary Institutions has been investigating whether a stronger bond between father and child can positively influence detention damage in children.

The Family Officer

In the family room, family officer Hennie and intern Kyra (Social Legal Services) consult with the daddy committee. Complaints about filling in forms and questions about whether or not someone is listening when the fathers are on video calls with their children are discussed. Hennie has been a family officer at the Father's Wing since the start in 2017. According to Hennie, making a prison child-friendly does not have to be very complex. Relatively small things can make a huge difference 'Children find it exciting to visit their father in prison, especially the first time. And if that can be done in a relaxed way, in a child-friendly environment without bars, you will see them flourish very quickly. Fathers often conceal the fact that they are in detention. If you have been imprisoned for four months, you can still tell your child that you are working abroad, but with a long detention that becomes difficult. On the Father's Wing, the fathers can support their families and are involved in the day-to-day running of the business. They work here every day to bond with their families.'

The Living Lab

Next to the Father's Wing is the office of the Living Lab Family Approach (Dutch) where, since 2018, project leader and lecturer-researcher Petrick Glasbergen and Simon Venema PhD, together with students from various study programmes, professionals within the PI and fathers in detention, have been looking for ways to make prisons more child-friendly. In recent years, some 140 students, mostly from the Hanze, have contributed to the further development of the Family Approach. They conduct practice-based research and work together with prison staff and the target group to improve the contact between father and child. Among other things, they offer parenting courses and workshops and they have developed a website (www.gezinsbenadering.nl) where all articles, models and products about the family approach are posted. They also organise activities for the partners of detainees, so that they can also come into contact with each other. Training courses such as 'Fathers in the role of father' and 'Return to the family' give fathers insight into what detention does to the rest of the family and how they can better deal with this. A Father's Wing will also be opened in the Norgerhaven location in Veenhuizen. The Living Lab is also closely involved in this.'

The Head of Department

Head of department Frans has been working in the PI for 27 years and was born and raised in Veenhuizen. He guards the boundaries and the security on the Father's Wing. His father worked in PI Veenhuizen as well and he calls himself 'a child of the Colonies'. It is not without pride that he calls Esserheem the most beautiful PI in the country and the Father's Wing the most beautiful department. 'Esserheem is not a concrete box, but one of the few PIs where you experience the seasons. That benefits the detention climate.' Frans sees inmates on the Father's Wing changing. 'The fathers do a lot together and there is a calmer atmosphere here than in regular departments. There is not much cocky behaviour, the inmates feel safe to show their vulnerable sides. Men who got into fights in other prisons are no problem here. They no longer fight against the system and feel more human.' Frans says the collaboration with students is very pleasant. 'They come with a fresh perspective and new ideas and they continue to develop projects.'

The students

Petra de Raad and Fardau van der Mark are both fascinated by crime. Petra studies Clinical Forensic Psychology and Victimology at the University of Groningen and Fardau is a fourth-year student of Applied Psychology at the Hanze. Together they do their internship and thesis at the Living Lab. They participate in studies in which mothers, children and prison staff of the Father's Wing are interviewed. 'Our focus is now on building the national website,' Fardau explains. 'Add products such as posters, workbooks, workshops, training courses. All aimed at reintegration and connection with the family, making prisons more child-friendly and supporting the father-child relationship. We finish products that students have started working on before us.'
The sisters in crime will also both write their thesis in the Living Lab. Petra: 'We want to show that the Father's Wing contributes to reducing the recidivism rate, which has not yet been mapped out within this approach. There is a lot of data that we can process for our research,' Petra explains. 'It's so nice that theses aren't gathering dust in a drawer here, but that something is actually being done with them,' Fardau adds.

The father

Rob has been on the Father's Wing since 2019. Before that, he was imprisoned in Norway for three and a half years. He will be released in March 2023. Rob has six children, two of whom are minors. He has a lot of contact with his children. 'Reintegration is different when you see your children regularly. You really have something to gain and lose if you mess up here. I make a lot of video calls with my two youngest children and visit the oldest when I am on leave. It's only through contact with my children that I realize what I've done to them.’

Good example

In the airyard, inmates rake up the autumn leaves. A friendly goodbye, the phones out of the lockers and the PI closes with a click. The visit to the Esserheem shows that family relationships can suffer a lot of damage as a result of detention. Prisons can play an important role in mitigating that harm by supporting a family with a parent in detention. The Father's Wing of Esserheem is a good example of this.

Also read: Detention father can have great consequences for family

EuroPris Prison Achievement Award
On 20 June 2022 the Living Lab Family Approach in Penitentiary Institutions was selected from 24 submissions across Europe as winner of the EuroPris Prison Achievement Award.