It has been found that the better a prisoner is treated, the more effective the sentence. Leiden criminologists therefore research how detention can be improved in such areas as prison life and contact between prisoners and their children.

The Institute of Criminal Law and Criminology conducts extensive research on imprisonment. Sending a person to prison is the most severe form of punishment that can be applied in the criminal justice systems of European countries. In most countries, the number of prisoners has risen in recent decades.…

The Prison Project investigates to what extent imprisonment has consequences for the relapse, health, career and intimate relations of the (ex-)prisoners.

Discover the new MSc in Public Sector Economics at Leiden University, offered entirely in Dutch. This program prepares future policy economists by bridging economic theory, Dutch institutions, and real-world policy challenges. Starting September 2025 in The Hague, it focuses on key issues like inequality,…

Are you thinking about studying Management van de Publieke Sector: Politiek, Beleid en Management? Learn more and watch thevideos. Please note that this programme is taught in Dutch.

Are you thinking about studying Management van de Publieke Sector: Bestuur en Advisering?Learn more and watch the videos. Please note that this programme is taught in Dutch.

The new Master’s programme in Public Sector Economics (MSc Economics) prepares you to become the policy economist of the future. The programme enables you to bridge the gap between economic theories, scientific methods, the functioning of Dutch institutions and policy processes, as well as current societal…

On 11 October, Amanda Pasma defended the thesis 'Re-entry support from prison-based and community-based professionals'. The doctoral research was supervised by Paul Nieuwbeerta, Hanneke Palmen and Esther van Ginneken.

A prisoner from Eindhoven who posted vlogs about his life in prison is attracting thousands of viewers on TikTok and other social media. Esther van Ginneken commented on regional news site ‘Omroep Brabant’: 'Contact is a human necessity.'

Compared to other countries, Dutch prisons have relatively few inmates. But who are behind bars in our prisons? Professor of Criminology and Comparative Penology Miranda Boone: ‘It's not the bad, but often the sad and the mad.’

Kohei Suzuki, Assistant Professor at Institute of Public Administration, researched, together with two other authors, whether public managers with private sector experience have more core managerial values.

Inside-Out Prison Exchange is a course in which students and prisoners work together on research questions in the area of crime, law enforcement and major social issues. The course takes place at a unique location: within the walls of a prison.

Our Dutch-taught Master of Public Sector Management equips you to tackle pressing societal challenges, like climate change and artificial intelligence. Prepare for a rewarding career as a public professional, understanding the crucial role of a proactive and reliable government in addressing these complex…

The Leiden LIS Sectoral Income Inequality Dataset, assembled by Chen Wang, Stefan Thewissen and Olaf van Vliet (Version 1.1, March 2014), contains information on multiple indicators of earnings inequality and employment within 9 sectors and 12 subsectors, drawing upon micro data from Luxembourg Income…

The SSH Sector Plans are a national initiative in which Dutch universities collaborate to strengthen research and education in the social sciences and humanities.

This book explores how demographic changes, especially population decline and ageing, influence digital innovation within the public sector. Drawing on an analysis of 110 Italian municipalities, the research illuminates the under-researched impact of 'big but slow moving' macro-level factors.

In this article, Friso Selten and Bram Klievink explore how public organisations strategically manage the adoption of AI.

The economics department teaches the following four courses within the master Pubic sector Management. This is a dutch master.

PhD defence

Previous studies have identified institutional, organizational, and individual factors that promote innovation in public organizations. Yet they have overlooked how the type of public administration—and the type of administrators—is associated with innovative attitudes.

Kohei Suzuki, assistant professor at Leiden University, together with Victor Lapuente, examined how male and female public managers show attitudinal differences toward innovation in the public sector.

This website showcases Leiden University’s contribution to the SSH Sector Plans.

Prison staff are working under high pressure. The current proposal for cell sharing is the final straw. Associate Professor Esther van Ginneken appeared on Dutch news programme ‘Nieuwsuur’: ‘Serious incidents have occurred, including the murder of a cellmate.’

Leiden University’s contribution to the Social Sciences Sector Plan is organized across several interconnected levels. The national Sector Plan themes define shared priorities across Dutch universities, while Leiden’s research themes and faculty focus areas provide direction and focus within the uni…

Leiden Law Cast is a podcast made by Leiden Law School, Leiden University, for everyone who wants to learn more about current legal issues.

Adults are more likely to reoffend after a short prison sentence than comparable adults with a non-custodial sentence, Leiden University research shows. This is true for the likelihood and extent of repeat crime.

In this article, James Shires and Tatiana Tropina, assistant professors at the Institute of Security and Global Affairs, map the relationship between gender equality and cybersecurity governance as a component of good security sector governance (SSG). Here, it highlights the way in which cybersecurity…

This article examines how motivational signals in job advertisements relate to public employers’ recruitment success.

Prisoners who are visited regularly by family or friends are less likely to be reconvicted in the short term than inmates who rarely or never receive visits. Visits should therefore be encouraged and facilitated, according to PhD candidate Maria Berghuis, who will defend her doctoral thesis on 23 June…

Cuts in the prison system threaten to be at the expense of security, including that of society, writes university lecturer Esther van Ginneken in an opinion piece in Dutch newspaper NRC.

Dutch political parties have presented their own 'solutions' to make society 'safer'. How do the party positions compare with scientific research on crime reduction?

The book offers different theoretical perspectives to help examine the process of public sector reform. In addition it gives an overview of the major trends in the core areas of the functioning of the public sector.

One perspective, one cell, one outlook on life: what are we all prisoners of? That’s the question Vrij Nederland put to various experts, including Joni Reef, Assistant Professor and Research Fellow at the Department of Criminology.

The two-years master's programme ICT in Business and the Public Sector (last intake in February 2025) at Leiden University provides students with a deeper understanding on our thinking on physical, geographical and industry boundaries, on distance, speed and communication. The programme offers two specialisations:…

The project seeks to develop an eco-design framework for single-use medical devices and packaging

What are the various forms of inter-organizational collaboration in the public safety sector? How are different forms of inter-organizational collaborative arrangements related? What is the relationship between inter-organizational collaboration and innovation in the public safety sector?

Prisoners who have little or no contact with the outside world are more prone to reoffend. What makes visits so important?

Why do violent incidents occur in prisons? And how do staff respond? Assistant Professor Esther van Ginneken will use a grant from the NWO Vidi Talent Programme to conduct research into these and other questions. She intends to make use of virtual reality.

Ten years ago, a new reward system was introduced in Dutch prisons: the only way prisoners could earn extra ‘freedoms’ was through good behaviour. Jan Maarten Elbers concludes that this system does little to encourage behavioural change and can even be counterproductive.

Prisoners deserve better professional support when preparing to return to society. PhD candidate Amanda Pasma: ‘You can’t imprison everyone for life. Society will have to give prisoners a second chance.’

Hilde Wermink, Assistant Professor at the Institute of Criminal Law & Criminology was interviewed on this topic for an article published in US News on 13 May.

If you end up in prison somewhere in the world, the chances are you won’t be allowed to vote. If it were up to researchers Tom Theuns and Andrei Poama, rather than disenfranchise felons, we would oblige them to vote. That would be a better way to express democratic values.