Forensisch sociale professionals hebben een cruciale rol in de trajecten van cliënten met verslavingsproblematiek. Veel onderzoek naar de effectiviteit van het forensische werk gaat over methodieken; er is relatief weinig bekend over de persoon van de forensisch sociale professional en diens persoonlijke stijl en opvattingen. Wat zijn bijvoorbeeld opvattingen ten aanzien van (de behandelbaarheid van) middelenmisbruik van forensische cliënten? Wanneer en hoe grijp je in als een cliënt terugvalt in middelengebruik? Hier is nog nauwelijks onderzoek naar verricht. In dit artikel presenteren wij de resultaten van een verkennend onderzoek naar de attitudes ten aanzien van cliënten die middelen gebruiken en behandelbaarheid van verslaving van reclasseringswerkers en professionals in de ambulante en klinische forensische zorg. Daarnaast wordt inzicht gegeven in de verschillen tussen subgroepen naar gender, werkervaring, setting, verslavingsprofessional of niet, en persoonlijke ervaringen met middelengebruik/verslaving. Vervolgens wordt ingegaan op de acties en overwegingen van forensisch sociale professionals bij het constateren van middelengebruik bij cliënten. Na de conclusies besluiten we met enkele aanbevelingen voor de versterking van de beroepspraktijk. Eerst worden de bevindingen uit eerdere literatuur beschreven.
The relationship between socioeconomic factors and crime is a classic theme in criminological literature. However, the relationship between debt and crime is still unclear, and little is known about the causality of this relationship and the factors that influence it. In addition, effective interventions and guidelines to adequately support offenders with debt are limited. Therefore, this thesis aims to systematically gain more insight into the factors that influence the relationship between debt and crime among probation clients and to contribute to developing tools that probation officers and other forensic social professionals can use to support clients with debt adequately. The relationship between debt and crime was studied by (1) a systematic and scoping literature review (5 studies were included in the systematic review and 24 studies in the scoping review), (2) a client file study including risk assessment data of a sample of 250 Dutch probation clients, (3) a quantitative study including recidivism data of the same sample of 250 Dutch probation clients, (4) interviews with 33 Dutch probation officers and 16 clients, and (5) a multiple case study focusing on working elements in the supervision of individual offenders (5 cases). The results show that debt is prevalent among probation clients, hinders resocialization, and increases recidivism risk. Debt and crime are not only related directly but are also related by a complex interplay of problems in different life domains, such as problems regarding childhood, education and work, and mental and physical health. Notwithstanding the strong relationship between debt and crime, financial assistance for probation clients with debts is limited. As debt is strongly related to problems in other life domains, a systematic collaboration between professionals of different disciplines is necessary to support clients with debt adequately.
In this thesis several studies are presented that have targeted decision making about case management plans in probation. In a case management plan probation officers describe the goals and interventions that should help offenders stop reoffending, and the specific measures necessary to reduce acute risks of recidivism and harm. Such a plan is embedded in a judicial framework, a sanction or advice about the sanction in which these interventions and measures should be executed. The topic of this thesis is the use of structured decision support, and the question is if this can improve decision making about case management plans in probation and subsequently improve the effectiveness of offender supervision. In this chapter we first sketch why structured decision making was introduced in the Dutch probation services. Next we describe the instrument for risk and needs assessment as well as the procedure to develop case management plans that are used by the Dutch probation services and that are investigated in this thesis. Then we describe the setting of the studies and the research questions, and we conclude with an overview of this thesis.
