Dienst Justitiële Inrichtingen playing cards

An unusual pack of playing cards published by the Dutch Prison Service (Dienst Justitiële Inrichtingen - DJI) subtitled: “A Look Behind the Gates”, intended to give an impression of life inside a custodial establishment. In spite of the bright colours, the message is grim.

If you serve time you'll learn a trade to help reintegrate into society. A prisoner's wife is not to be envied, left with debts, shame and responsibility for the children. In a secure hospital people suffering from mental disorder are risk-assessed for re-offending. Many foreign drug traffickers are women driven by poverty. Although prison life isn't cosy, a team of trained staff is on call day and night to ensure the safety of personnel and inmates... the penitentiary workers guide them on their way back to society.

Above: playing cards published by the ‘Dutch Dienst Justitiële Inrichtingen’: a look behind the gates of Judicial / Custodial institutions. Manufactured in Poland by KZWP-Trefl, c.2003. 52 cards + 2 Jokers + bridge score card in box. The number cards have non-standard arrangements of the pips.

By Simon Wintle

Member since February 01, 1996

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Curator and editor of the World of Playing Cards since 1996. He is a former committee member of the IPCS and was graphics editor of The Playing-Card journal for many years. He has lived at various times in Chile, England and Wales and is currently living in Extremadura, Spain. Simon's first limited edition pack of playing cards was a replica of a seventeenth century traditional English pack, which he produced from woodblocks and stencils.