Veranderende mensbeelden van gedetineerden: (een kort historisch overzicht)

Throughout history the way detainees were portrayed by society has varied. At first, until the Second World War, detainees were mainly seen as blameworthy objects. After the war they became a fellow human being with dignity in need of resocialization or psychological treatment. In the Seventies detainees became citizens with a legal status according to the rule of law. When in the Eighties criminal law became more punitive, prisoners developed into enemies of society. Since then the detainee is moreover seen as dangerous and as a risk. Consequently the desirability of resocialization is questioned. This has resulted in a more individual approach towards prisoners, who need to prove that they are motivated for resocialization programs. In the end this leaves the most vulnerable detainees to their fate and expresses a view of man which could be characterized as the lost human.