My Day in a Danish Prison

On Wednesday, my Crimonology and Criminal Justice in Scandinavia Class went to Jyderup State Prison, about 60 minutes outside Copenhagen. Jyderup is one of about 11 open prisons in the country, which altogether can hold 1,470 prisoners. There are 5 closed prisons, with a capacity of 762 prisoners.

Open prisons are now a "cornerstone of the Danish Prison system" with the goal of "the deprivation of liberty, not...harsh living conditions." [Oct 1996 "Jyderup State Prison" Pamphlet, by Governor Hans Jørgen Engo]. This means there aren't bars on the windows, a ring wall, or electronic surveillance. The fence that is there is only to keep other people out! But the gate is usually open during the day, so it's easy to drive in or out.

The goals of the Danish Prison and Probation Service are: normalization, openness, responsibility, security, least possible interference and optimum use of resources.

So, our visit was VERY interesting. My group was led around by prison staff and one of the prisoners. He was serving four months for punching a guy twice in the face, but he also had a record before from being part of Bandidos, the biker gang (arch-rivals of Hells Angels, they fought in the "Great Nordic Biker War" at the end of the 1990s). We saw the wood workshop where some prisoners made staircases and other such projects, the iron workshop where they did custom ironworks, such as a decoration for a church, the kitchen where some worked and the construction project the youth were working on.

Everyone in Danish prisons are required to work, usually they do so at the prison, and they were paid by the hour for their work. It is less than minimum wage, because obviously they have free housing, but they do pay for their own food. The prisoners have their own kitchens to prepare their food in, and they buy food at the on-site store (where the prices are ridiculous). Some prisoners get special permission after a while to work off-site. Our guide was an example, everyday he takes the train to his old job where he works with school kids who have problems with the law.

As American students, the things we found really strange to find in a prison were knives for cooking, machines to do their work (saws, iron-working tools, etc), TVs in the youth cells, a tanning bed!, and prisoners walking around in their own clothes-not orange jumpsuits. Sometimes on the tour, it felt like I was being shown around a college campus...that's how nice and normal it was.

So does it work? That's the big question, why would Danish people avoid crime if they can end up at a place like this??? The statistics to think about are:

- The US has 714 prisoners per 100,000 people, the highest rate in the world.

- England, comparison, has the highest rate in Western Europe at 142 per 100,000

- Denmark has 63 per 100,000 (and the average prison sentence is about 6 months)

Recidivism rates (for released prisoners):

- US: about 60%

- UK: about 50%

- Denmark: 30%

Of course, there are lot of other factors to consider. But it's something to think about! If you're intrigued, check out the Danish Prison and Probation Service.