The Extraordinary Experiment:
“Little Scandinavia”
In a Pennsylvania Prison
U.S.A. Just the name rings with progress in every field of endeavor…but not prisons. They are much the same as they have been for decades, and are filled over and over again with the same people. More than 79% will return to incarceration within 6 years after release, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics.
But one prison in Pennsylvania has spent the past four years in an extraordinary experiment, revamping the way prisoners are treated, and completely changing their environment. More importantly, it seems to be changing both the inmates and the guards.
“From Norway, Pennsylvania’s prisons appear cruel and unusual,” read the headline of the Philadelphia Inquirer, back in 2019. The story reported the changes and outcomes of the groundbreaking work that revamped prisons in Scandinavia by a couple of criminology professors in Oslo, Norway, Jordan M. Hyatt and Synøve N. Andersen.
Pennsylvania’s Department of Corrections became interested enough to send a team to visit the prisons in Norway, and were stunned by what they saw: Officers and inmates eating meals together, playing video games, and laughing. Said a visiting staff member, “I was blown away. It was jarring, eye-opening,” and another said, ‘Oh my God, I’ve been trained wrong.’”
Very soon, the Pennsylvania DOC decided to give it a try and received a grant of $310,000 to restructure a unit. They call it “Little Scandinavia.” Modular furniture gives inmates a gathering space for conversation and community meetings. A large fish tank adds serenity to the area, and a treadmill and elliptical machine offer a chance to exercise anytime they want. Every inmate has a personal cell, and all share a kitchen where residents cook food they order and pay for on a set of electric stoves that staff reports are still sparkling four years after they were installed. There are duplicates of everything so the unit’s Muslim members can keep halal, and “everyone respects boundaries and maintains order.”
Interestingly, this is no country-club prison. In this unit are lifers, murderers, and a mix of races and religions, yet even the worst offenders are treated with humanity and given rights and privileges unheard of in U.S. prisons today. The inmate-versus-officer dynamic has dissolved, replaced by a sense that everyone is working toward the same goal.
Through its focus on rehabilitation and restorative justice, Norway has maintained one of the lowest recidivism rates in the world, with a re-conviction rate of about 25% after five years. It seems to be working here as well, but it will take a few years before actual recidivism rates can be reported for those who have experienced “Little Scandinavia.” One thing I know, it’s got to be better than it is now.
Nancy
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