Kristel Beyens
Biographic Data
| ID | 4149896 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Kristel Beyens |
| GIVEN NAMES | Kristel |
| FAMILY NAME | Beyens |
| SIGNATURE | BEYENS K |
| AFFILIATIONS | Vrije Universiteit Brussel |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-7073-637X |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 16 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 52 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 15 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 1 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1995 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 4 |
Why do detention rates rise or fall? A statistical and document analysis of the diverging Dutch and Belgian detention population trends between 2000 and 2020
Since 2005, detention rates in the Netherlands have decreased significantly, reversing prior growth. In contrast, neighbouring Belgium has experienced a substantial increase in its detention rates since the 1990s. By 2020 Belgium detained almost twice as many persons per 100,000 inhabitants as the Netherlands. The contrast between the two countries is striking as they are neighbouring countries with a partially shared history, language and crimin…
Similar cases, different punishment: Case matching as a method for understanding differing detention population trends between the Netherlands and Belgium
This study examines the significant disparity in prison population trends between the Netherlands and Belgium over the past two decades. Using a unique qualitative case-matching approach, it compares 40 thoroughly matched criminal cases across four offence categories – theft and (violent) property offences, drug offences, sexual offences and homicide offences – to examine differences in sentencing and sentence implementation in both countries. Th…
Experiencing the digitalized prison
This article examines the impact of the implementation of the digital platform PrisonCloud on daily life in prison. By enabling 24/7 two-way communication between incarcerated individuals, internal services, and external contacts, PrisonCloud has reshaped prison interactions and influenced relational dynamics. Drawing on ethnographic research in a Belgian prison, including observations and interviews, and applying Crewe’s framework of depth, weig…
The Long Road to Municipality 2.0: Mobile City Apps as Catalyst for Change
In recent decades, the public sector has been looking for ways to accommodate increasingly critical citizens by striving towards a less bureaucratic and more efficient organization, as well as more direct forms of communication. Government institutions try to respond more quickly to citizens’ concerns and want to ensure that citizens can contact them more easily and find relevant and accurate information promptly. To achieve this, they often turn…
Where Two ‘Exceptional’ Prison Cultures Meet: Negotiating Order in a Transnational Prison
Can a prison in the Netherlands, that is neither ‘Dutch’ nor ‘Norwegian’, be ‘legitimate?’ What are the moral challenges? Our study of the controversial Norgerhaven project—a Norwegian prison located in the Netherlands—found that this ‘experiment’ generated one of the most reflexive, ‘deliberative’ prisons we have encountered. Officials involved in the decision assumed that the two jurisdictions were alike in their values. Few were prepared for t…
Recall to prison in Belgium: Back-end sentencing in search of reintegration
In recent years, the United States and England and Wales have witnessed growing re-incarceration rates. This growth is not only due to the courts sending more people to prison (‘front-end sentencing’), but also due to an increasing number of revocations of early release measures, mainly following technical violations of licence conditions (so called ‘back-end sentencing’). However, it is unclear whether the same phenomenon exists in other (Europe…
Comparing electronic monitoring regimes: Length, breadth, depth and weight equals tightness
This paper compares the use of electronic monitoring in three European jurisdictions – Belgium, England and Wales and the Netherlands. It suggests that rates of use, the accepted method of comparison in relation to imprisonment and a proxy measure of ‘punitiveness’ provide a misleading picture when applied to electronic monitoring. This paper transforms Crewe's concept of ‘tightness’ from a dimension of weight to encompass the overlapping element…
Introduction: Prison foodways. International and multidisciplinary perspectives
A Vehicle of Punishment? Prison Diets in Belgium Circa 1900
For decades institutional food has been studied to learn about wider developments in foodways in the past and present. Prison diets offer additional value to these studies in that prisoners' food has specific connotations (e.g., control or extra punishment) and that it should not exceed common diets outside the prison (the so-called less-eligibility principle). This interdisciplinary paper examines the Belgian prison system circa 1900, then one o…
Belgian Sentencing as a Bifurcated Practice
Belgian sentencing is in a period of turmoil. Belgian judges value their independence. Most believe in the desirability of individualized sentencing and resent intrusions on their autonomy. Although many continue to hold classsical views about the purposes of sentencing, new practices and laws, triggered partly by several decades of rising imprisonment rates and recent efforts by policy makers and correctional officials to contain it, have change…
Offender Supervision in Europe
Offender supervision in Europe has developed rapidly in scale, distribution and intensity in recent years. However, the emergence of mass supervision in the community has largely escaped the attention
Electronically Monitored Punishment
Electronic monitoring (EM) is a way of supervising offenders in the community whilst they are on bail, serving a community sentence or after release from prison. Various technologies can be used, including voice verification, GPS satellite tracking and â most commonly - the use of radio frequency to monitor house arrest. It originated in the USA in the 1980s and has spread to over 30 countries since then. This book explores the development of EM …
Encounters of a different kind: Social enquiry and sentencing in Belgium
This article draws on the results of multi-method research studying the discourse of Belgian sentencing judges and report writers in relation to the use and evaluation of social reports. To understand the Belgian context, the legal framework and its underlying assumptions, as well as the institutional and cultural background to the use and evaluation of social reports, are explained. Social reports focus on the social background of the offender. …
Les juges belges face à l'(in)exécution des peines
En Belgique, l’inexécution totale ou partielle des peines d’emprisonnement fait depuis quelque temps déjà l’objet de nombreux mécontentements, notamment de la part des magistrats. Sur la base d’une recherche empirique menée auprès des magistrats belges (francophones et néerlandophones), cet article propose un aperçu des divergences de position de la magistrature belge face à l’ (in) exécution supposée de « leurs » peines et face à l’adoption de c…
La recherche en sentencing: Un Survol Contextualisé
Changing prison populations in Western countries: Fate or policy
La recherche en sentencing: Un Survol Contextualisé
Changing prison populations in Western countries: Fate or policy
Comparing electronic monitoring regimes: Length, breadth, depth and weight equals tightness
This paper compares the use of electronic monitoring in three European jurisdictions – Belgium, England and Wales and the Netherlands. It suggests that rates of use, the accepted method of comparison in relation to imprisonment and a proxy measure of ‘punitiveness’ provide a misleading picture when applied to electronic monitoring. This paper transforms Crewe's concept of ‘tightness’ from a dimension of weight to encompass the overlapping element…
A Vehicle of Punishment? Prison Diets in Belgium Circa 1900
For decades institutional food has been studied to learn about wider developments in foodways in the past and present. Prison diets offer additional value to these studies in that prisoners' food has specific connotations (e.g., control or extra punishment) and that it should not exceed common diets outside the prison (the so-called less-eligibility principle). This interdisciplinary paper examines the Belgian prison system circa 1900, then one o…
Encounters of a different kind: Social enquiry and sentencing in Belgium
This article draws on the results of multi-method research studying the discourse of Belgian sentencing judges and report writers in relation to the use and evaluation of social reports. To understand the Belgian context, the legal framework and its underlying assumptions, as well as the institutional and cultural background to the use and evaluation of social reports, are explained. Social reports focus on the social background of the offender. …
Where Two ‘Exceptional’ Prison Cultures Meet: Negotiating Order in a Transnational Prison
Can a prison in the Netherlands, that is neither ‘Dutch’ nor ‘Norwegian’, be ‘legitimate?’ What are the moral challenges? Our study of the controversial Norgerhaven project—a Norwegian prison located in the Netherlands—found that this ‘experiment’ generated one of the most reflexive, ‘deliberative’ prisons we have encountered. Officials involved in the decision assumed that the two jurisdictions were alike in their values. Few were prepared for t…
Les juges belges face à l'(in)exécution des peines
En Belgique, l’inexécution totale ou partielle des peines d’emprisonnement fait depuis quelque temps déjà l’objet de nombreux mécontentements, notamment de la part des magistrats. Sur la base d’une recherche empirique menée auprès des magistrats belges (francophones et néerlandophones), cet article propose un aperçu des divergences de position de la magistrature belge face à l’ (in) exécution supposée de « leurs » peines et face à l’adoption de c…
Changing prison populations in Western countries: Fate or policy
La recherche en sentencing: Un Survol Contextualisé
Encounters of a different kind: Social enquiry and sentencing in Belgium
This article draws on the results of multi-method research studying the discourse of Belgian sentencing judges and report writers in relation to the use and evaluation of social reports. To understand the Belgian context, the legal framework and its underlying assumptions, as well as the institutional and cultural background to the use and evaluation of social reports, are explained. Social reports focus on the social background of the offender. …
Les juges belges face à l'(in)exécution des peines
En Belgique, l’inexécution totale ou partielle des peines d’emprisonnement fait depuis quelque temps déjà l’objet de nombreux mécontentements, notamment de la part des magistrats. Sur la base d’une recherche empirique menée auprès des magistrats belges (francophones et néerlandophones), cet article propose un aperçu des divergences de position de la magistrature belge face à l’ (in) exécution supposée de « leurs » peines et face à l’adoption de c…
Offender Supervision in Europe
Offender supervision in Europe has developed rapidly in scale, distribution and intensity in recent years. However, the emergence of mass supervision in the community has largely escaped the attention
Electronically Monitored Punishment
Electronic monitoring (EM) is a way of supervising offenders in the community whilst they are on bail, serving a community sentence or after release from prison. Various technologies can be used, including voice verification, GPS satellite tracking and â most commonly - the use of radio frequency to monitor house arrest. It originated in the USA in the 1980s and has spread to over 30 countries since then. This book explores the development of EM …
Belgian Sentencing as a Bifurcated Practice
Belgian sentencing is in a period of turmoil. Belgian judges value their independence. Most believe in the desirability of individualized sentencing and resent intrusions on their autonomy. Although many continue to hold classsical views about the purposes of sentencing, new practices and laws, triggered partly by several decades of rising imprisonment rates and recent efforts by policy makers and correctional officials to contain it, have change…
A Vehicle of Punishment? Prison Diets in Belgium Circa 1900
For decades institutional food has been studied to learn about wider developments in foodways in the past and present. Prison diets offer additional value to these studies in that prisoners' food has specific connotations (e.g., control or extra punishment) and that it should not exceed common diets outside the prison (the so-called less-eligibility principle). This interdisciplinary paper examines the Belgian prison system circa 1900, then one o…
Recall to prison in Belgium: Back-end sentencing in search of reintegration
In recent years, the United States and England and Wales have witnessed growing re-incarceration rates. This growth is not only due to the courts sending more people to prison (‘front-end sentencing’), but also due to an increasing number of revocations of early release measures, mainly following technical violations of licence conditions (so called ‘back-end sentencing’). However, it is unclear whether the same phenomenon exists in other (Europe…
Comparing electronic monitoring regimes: Length, breadth, depth and weight equals tightness
This paper compares the use of electronic monitoring in three European jurisdictions – Belgium, England and Wales and the Netherlands. It suggests that rates of use, the accepted method of comparison in relation to imprisonment and a proxy measure of ‘punitiveness’ provide a misleading picture when applied to electronic monitoring. This paper transforms Crewe's concept of ‘tightness’ from a dimension of weight to encompass the overlapping element…
Introduction: Prison foodways. International and multidisciplinary perspectives
Where Two ‘Exceptional’ Prison Cultures Meet: Negotiating Order in a Transnational Prison
Can a prison in the Netherlands, that is neither ‘Dutch’ nor ‘Norwegian’, be ‘legitimate?’ What are the moral challenges? Our study of the controversial Norgerhaven project—a Norwegian prison located in the Netherlands—found that this ‘experiment’ generated one of the most reflexive, ‘deliberative’ prisons we have encountered. Officials involved in the decision assumed that the two jurisdictions were alike in their values. Few were prepared for t…
The Long Road to Municipality 2.0: Mobile City Apps as Catalyst for Change
In recent decades, the public sector has been looking for ways to accommodate increasingly critical citizens by striving towards a less bureaucratic and more efficient organization, as well as more direct forms of communication. Government institutions try to respond more quickly to citizens’ concerns and want to ensure that citizens can contact them more easily and find relevant and accurate information promptly. To achieve this, they often turn…
Experiencing the digitalized prison
This article examines the impact of the implementation of the digital platform PrisonCloud on daily life in prison. By enabling 24/7 two-way communication between incarcerated individuals, internal services, and external contacts, PrisonCloud has reshaped prison interactions and influenced relational dynamics. Drawing on ethnographic research in a Belgian prison, including observations and interviews, and applying Crewe’s framework of depth, weig…
Why do detention rates rise or fall? A statistical and document analysis of the diverging Dutch and Belgian detention population trends between 2000 and 2020
Since 2005, detention rates in the Netherlands have decreased significantly, reversing prior growth. In contrast, neighbouring Belgium has experienced a substantial increase in its detention rates since the 1990s. By 2020 Belgium detained almost twice as many persons per 100,000 inhabitants as the Netherlands. The contrast between the two countries is striking as they are neighbouring countries with a partially shared history, language and crimin…
Similar cases, different punishment: Case matching as a method for understanding differing detention population trends between the Netherlands and Belgium
This study examines the significant disparity in prison population trends between the Netherlands and Belgium over the past two decades. Using a unique qualitative case-matching approach, it compares 40 thoroughly matched criminal cases across four offence categories – theft and (violent) property offences, drug offences, sexual offences and homicide offences – to examine differences in sentencing and sentence implementation in both countries. Th…
Political science (14 works) · Criminal Justice and Corrections Analysis (11 works) · Criminology (10 works) · Prison (8 works) · Law (7 works) · Sociology (7 works) · Psychology (6 works) · Psychopathy, Forensic Psychiatry, Sexual Offending (6 works) · Homelessness and Social Issues (5 works) · Crime Patterns and Interventions (4 works)