Imprisonment in the Nordic Countries (From Crime and Crime Control in Scandinavia, 1976-80, P 53-58, 1980, Norman Bishop, ed. - See NCJ-74060)

• NCJ Number: 74068
• Author(s): B Kyvsgaard
• Date Published: 1980
• Length: 6 pages
• Publication Format: Document
• Language: English
• Country: Sweden

Annotation

Changes in sentencing policies, trends in average daily prison population, and proposals for reduced prison sentences are reviewed in the Nordic countries of Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden from 1975 to 1980.

Abstract

Special penal measures, primarily the indeterminate sentencing of young adult offenders, continues to decline. In 1973, Denmark abolished the indeterminate sentence for young adult offenders; abolition of the same penal measure occurred in the late 1970's in Norway and Sweden and is under consideration in Finland. Special measures for mentally deviant offenders have also been abolished or restricted. Preventive detention of indeterminate duration is still used in a few cases for dangerous offenders. Although property offenses have increased from 1975 to 1980 in the Nordic countries, the average daily prison population has not increased because prison sentences are relatively short, with more than two-thirds of the imposed sentences for 6 months or less. Efforts continue at normalizing prison life by giving prisoners better work and educational opportunities and by diminishing isolation from the surrounding community through increased use of work furloughs and weekend leave. Committee reports issued in 1977 and 1978 on criminal policy and the use of sanctions in the Nordic countries advocate reduced use of imprisonment through shortened prison sentences and the use of such alternatives to imprisonment as community service and intensive probation supervision. Proposals for effecting these changes include reducing the court sentence and decreasing the part of the sentence which is actually served (i.e., by more extensive use of parole). Other variants proposed include half-time release on parole and abolition of parole. These reforms are criticized because they are usually directed at short-term prisoners, leading to a 'hardening' of the prison population. Other opponents believe liberalization of criminal policy should be moderated. One data table and six references are provided.