Dutch cities suffer from the behaviour of a small group of treatment-resistant
serious habitual offenders. This situation challenges service coordination between
municipal authorities, and representatives from care and criminal justice systems. In the
last decade Dutch government introduced the Veiligheidshuis (Safety House) as a
platform for managing the above safety issues; a network environment for coordinating
social care and criminal justice interventions in the realm of crime and security. This
study aims to analyse the nature of the problem of persistent lack of service
coordination and the value of the introduction of the Veiligheidshuis. The collaboration
with in the Veiligheidshuis in two cities was studied and the service career of six of the
most persistent habitual offenders was followed and discussed with the concerned
professionals and teams. In this action research grounded theory was used to analyse
data from interviews and observations. This study demonstrates how the practical work
of dealing with habitual offenders is afflicted by conflicting logics of care and criminal
justice. Conflicting cultures, diametrically opposed organizational structures and poorly
connecting professional domains result in fragmented and often ineffective
interventions towards habitual offenders. This study also demonstrates that cross-sector
collaboration in a dense network of agencies to help bridge the gap between divergent
professional sectors is possible. The innovation of the Veiligheidshuis leads to the
development of a collaborative framework for action and the creation of various
coordination mechanisms. These in turn stimulated the timely sharing of information,
and the development of mutual trust and support. As a practical result from this study
case management meetings were redesigned in a recursive way. Thus the effectiveness
of these meetings as a management tool was greatly enhanced.
Keywords: Conflicting logics, organisational innovation, coordination,
collaboration, habitual offenders, criminal justice sector, care sector,
Veiligheidshuizen.
