By Lena Roxell Photo by Jan Tinneberg on Unsplash Since the turn of the millennium, levels of recidivism following a prison term have declined in Sweden. One explanation that has been posited for this trend is that the composition of the inmate population has changed during the period in question. Sex, age, prior criminal histories, the offences leading to imprisonment and the length of prison sentences are all factors that might explain the decline. However, it was noted that the decline in recidivism between 2011 and 2014 could not be completely explained by these factors. According to this ..read more

By Aino Jauhiainen Photo by Hannah Wei on Unsplash For the first article of my doctoral dissertation, I interviewed the police and prosecutors on their decision-making regarding victim offender mediation during 2020 and 2021. I conducted semi-structured expert interviews, utilizing a both open-ended and structured interview framework. I planned to conduct the interviews face to face, as it enables a natural social setting for capturing lived experiences. Then the pandemic arrived, restricting everyone’s possibilities to socialize. Like many other researchers at the time, I had to rethink my o ..read more

By Emma-Lisa Gångare Photo by Piron Guillaume on Unsplash The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child explicitly asserts that delinquent children should be kept out of the law enforcement system, being considered socially vulnerable. Correspondingly, on behalf of the child, the rule of conduct in Sweden has a tradition of providing support and protection from the social authorities. In 2020, this notion became significant as the UN convention went from consented to being fully integrated into the Swedish jurisdiction. However, in contrast, children’s involvement in criminal activities is a g ..read more

By Pernille Nyvoll Illustration created by Pernille Nyvoll in Midjourney In recent years, the concept of “healthy prisons” is increasingly used to highlight the possibility of a health-promoting environment fostering the physical, mental, and social well-being of people in prison.  To delve deeper into the notion of a “healthy prison”, I conducted interviews and ethnographic fieldwork in two low-security prisons deliberately selected for their potentially health-promoting elements. During my fieldwork, two of the selected prisons (Prison A and Prison B) were impacted by a number of challe ..read more

By Sylvia Koffeld-Hamidane All photos: Sylvia Koffeld-Hamidane Little is known about the content of meetings between formerly imprisoned persons and probation staff following imprisonment. This blogpost highlights lived experiences of these meetings, from the perspectives of persons who recently returned to the community. Not surprisingly, the interaction contributed to feelings of being captured in freedom. But above all, in these contexts, the staff was perceived as treasured safe havens.  Some people walk out of Norwegian prisons free as birds. Others must still serve outside the w ..read more

By Silje Anderdal Bakken Photo by Alexander Grey on Unsplash We, as criminologists, need to be where things happen. Today, social interaction is increasingly taking place on digital platforms. Interacting digitally – at a distance – can be a great benefit when researching sensitive topics or hard-to-reach populations. Engaging in digital methods, it being interviews, ethnography or other, opens for direct contact with a wider selection of people and for communication in a natural space of social activities. One example is to use text-based phone applications to do qualitative interviews. Face ..read more

By Rose Boyle and Peter Scharff Smith Photo: Christian Wangberg / Kriminalomsorgen One of the big overarching questions when it comes to contemporary and future practices of punishment is how these are influenced by the continuous rise of digital technologies, and in turn, how this might affect the purpose as well as the function of punishment – that is, the relationship between punishment and society. The purpose of punishment has changed over time and varies from one jurisdiction to another, but tends to focus on a combination of deterrence (individual and general), incapacitation, and retri ..read more

Background photo: Emma MacLean Sinclair. Layered illustration: Ida Villadsen Incarcerated people in Danish prisons and remand prisons are requesting better educational options. However, the lack of educational options – especially above ground school level – place limitations on meeting the educational requests of the incarcerated people, leaving a large unfulfilled educational potential in Danish prisons. This is one of the major conclusions of the recently published report “Uddannelse til indsatte” (“Education for incarcerated people”) by the educational think tank Perspektiv. 39,4 % of all ..read more

By Clara Fahlstadius Photo by Karl on Unsplash Participating in the European Conference on Domestic Violence (ECDV) in Reykjavik, Iceland was an inspiring experience. As ECDV brings together researchers, practitioners and civil society from both in – and outside Europe, it creates a vibrant buzz and offers diverse and interesting presentations. I am grateful to have had the opportunity to take part in so many empowering discussions and for everyone’s great interest in intimate partner violence among youth. In my presentation I shared some thoughts on my dissertation thesis which aims to seek a ..read more

By Katrine Antonsen Photo by Adolfo Félix on Unsplash The Norwegian prison system has long been considered exceptional and one of the most humane in the world. The supposedly low reoffending rates, good material conditions, as well as the ambition to “turn prisoners into good neighbours” have attracted and astonished researchers, journalists and civil society organisations worldwide.  But what happens when one attempts to export Scandinavian penal practices to countries with completely different tolerances, societal conditions, and political contexts? Can the Scandinavian penal system be ..read more