Are Scandinavian prisons effective?

There is very little security preventing prisoners from escaping. There are no barbed-wire fences and no gun towers. In both the United States and Denmark, the rate of prisoner death is less than 1\%, so these policies do not appear to lead to more murders or suicides. They do lead to lower recidivism.

Why are Nordic prisons better?

Nordic countries don’t rely on prison labor to drive their economy, so their prisons are focused on rehabilitation, not recidivism. They treat their prisoners like humans so they will act like humans on release. They have one of the lowest recidivism rates in the world.

How are prisoners treated in Norway?

Prisons in Norway are known for being heavily focused on rehabilitation. Some say they’re too comfortable and forgiving for perpetrators of serious crimes, including violence. Some say they’re exemplarily humane and part of the reason Norway’s crime rates are low compared to other countries.

Do Scandinavian prisons use solitary confinement?

Solitary confinement is a very strong sanction which is used routinely in Scandinavian prisons.

Are there private prisons in Scandinavia?

There are no private prisons in Nordic countries, she said, which enjoy some of the lowest incarceration rates in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

How bad are Swedish prisons?

re-offending rate in all of Europe at just 16\%. Since 2004, prison population numbers in Sweden had been falling 1\%. Since then, prison numbers dropped by 6\%, and the numbers are expected to be similar, if not even more prominent in the coming years.

How bad are Denmark prisons?

In spite of low violence and low recidivism rates, the Danish prison system grapples with both ethnic inequities and human rights abuses. About 40 percent of prisoners in Denmark are not ethnically Danish; this is almost four times the percentage of non-Danes in the general population.

How much do prisoners get paid in Sweden?

Inmates are paid a uniform wage of 11 Swedish kronor per hour, and are entitled to work, education or treatment while incarcerated.

Why do Scandinavian countries treat prisoners as normal?

The thing is, in the Scandinavian countries, the inmates will be treated as “normal” as possible in an attempt to make them suitable for life outside prison once they have served their sentence. Conway’s view, however, is that it’s you who put yourself in prison.

How many prisoners are in Sweden compared to the US?

The prison population of Sweden (6,900) is less than half the population of Rikers Island at its height (14,000). Several prisons in the U.S. each hold nearly twice the prison population of Finland. This is not simply the difference between large and much smaller countries.

What is it like to be in a Nordic Prison?

Scandinavian prisons are roughly as racially and ethnically homogeneous as American prisons: 70 percent of Nordic prisoners are ethnically white citizens; the other 30 percent are foreign-born (mostly from other EU countries). In U.S. prisons, ethnic and racial minorities make up over 60 percent of the population.

Does prison work in Denmark and Sweden?

Both Denmark and Sweden have far lower incarceration and crime rates, prison is about rehabilitation, and it’s proved to work far more effectively.