The increased proportion of prisoners in Belgium compared to the rest of the population is linked in particular to subsequent offences. The finding emerges from a report produced by the Groupe du Vendredi, an independent think tank, and is reported on Tuesday in Le Soir.
Over the last twenty years, 57% of those sentenced in Belgian prisons were reoffenders. One in two were subject to at least seven subsequent sentences in the twenty years following their first sentence. Moreover one prisoner in four had reoffended in the two years following their release.
According to the study authors, “The criminogenic catalyst that prison proves to be, logically leads to a particularly high rate of reoffending, hence feeding a vicious circle between overpopulation in prisons and reoffending. It is increasing the numbers of dangerous ex-offenders, when they return to society.”
The report details the figures of the current prison policy: €51 per year per inhabitant of the total population calculated on a per capita basis, compared respectively to €38 in France and €37 in Germany.
The Brussels Times
