Securing Safety in the Dutch Prison System: Pros and Cons of a Supermax

In the Western world, prison systems have to deal with the inherent tension between the need for safety and the aim to offer rehabilitative opportunities to prisoners. Conventional prison wisdom tells us that safety concerns tend to constrain opportunities for rehabilitation, while treatment programmes undermine safety. The small group of violent and escape‐prone prisoners found in most prison systems poses a special problem. In theory, two policy options exist in order to deal with this problem: (i) disperse high‐risk prisoners throughout the system, or (ii) concentrate high‐risk prisoners in a so‐called supermax prison. The Dutch prison system has long shifted between concentration and dispersion. In 1993, a supermax was built. This article explains why this shift occurred and how penal experts have dealt with issues of safety and treatment in this new supermax.