What drives 'soft deportation'? Understanding the rise in Assisted Voluntary Return among rejected asylum seekers in the Netherlands

States experience difficulties in realizing the return of rejected asylum seekers, but migration control policies are becoming increasingly sophisticated. Against this background, we consider explanations for the increase in Assisted Voluntary Return from the Netherlands in the 2005-2011 period. Both macro-level factors (source country societal conditions and characteristics of the Dutch "deportation regime") and individual-level factors (applicants' demographic characteristics and variation in status determination time) are examined. The study, which is based on a unique multilevel dataset (N = 15,682) with data from governmental and other sources (including International Organisation for Migration), is the first to quantitatively test assumed Assisted Voluntary Return determinants and contributes to the study of policy effects in migration studies. We find that states are capable of increasing return rates by expanding the use of "hard" and "soft" power. We propose the term "soft deportation" as a way to go beyond the dichotomy of "voluntary" and "forced" return

The validity of the DSM-IV diagnostic classification system of non-affective psychoses

Objective: The schizophrenia and other non-affective disorders categories listed in the DSM-IV, are currently under revision for the development of the fifth edition. The aim of the present study is to demonstrate the validity of these categories by investigating possible differences between diagnostic patient subgroups on various measures. Methods: 1064 patients with a diagnosis of non-affective psychosis (schizophrenia N = 731 (paranoid type 82%), schizoaffective N = 63, schizophreniform N = 120, psychosis not otherwise specified/brief psychotic disorder N = 150) participated in this study. Dependent variables were demographic and clinical characteristics, severity of psychopathology, premorbid and current functioning, and indicators of quality of life. Results: Within the diagnostic group of schizophrenia, no significant differences were observed between paranoid schizophrenia, disorganized, and undifferentiated schizophrenia. Patients with schizophrenia experienced more severe psychopathology and had poorer levels of current functioning compared to patients with psychosis not otherwise specified or brief psychotic disorder. Differences between schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder were less clear. Conclusion: Our results do not support the validity of schizophrenia subtypes. Schizophrenia can be distinguished from brief psychotic disorder and psychotic disorder not otherwise specified. These findings may fuel the actual DSM-V discussion