State penitentiary "Veldzicht" | prison, psychiatric hospital / clinic

 prison, psychiatric hospital / clinic

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Veldzicht is a forensic psychiatric centre for prisoners with an extra conviction for psychiatric treatment. The institution was founded in 1894 as a reeduction center for youth prisoners, which was closed in 1930. The 1933 the centre was transformed as a penitentiary for convicted psychopaths (according to an early 20th century definition). The punishment is called "involuntary commitment". In Dutch criminal law a convict can be sentenced to involuntary psychiatric treatment in a special institute called a TBS-clinic. TBS is an abbreviation for "Ter Beschikkingstelling," literally meaning "being placed at disposal." Legally, such a sentence is not regarded as punishment like a prison sentence, but as a special measure.