In the growing field of comparative criminal justice, the Nordic countries are regularly used as exceptions to the global move towards growing rates of imprisonment and tougher, less welfare-oriented crime-control policies.
Why are the Nordic penal institutions viewed as so 'different' from a non-Nordic vantage point? Are Nordic prisons and penal policies in fact positive exceptions to the general rule? If they are, what exactly are the exceptional qualities, and why are the Nordic societies lucky enough to have them? Are there important overlooked examples of Nordic 'bad practice' in the penal area? Could there be a specifically Nordic way of doing prison research, contributing to the gap between internal and external perspectives?
In considering - among others - the above questions, this book explores and discusses the Nordic jurisdictions as contexts for the specific penal policies and practices that may or may not be described as exceptional.
Written by leading prison scholars from the Nordic countries as well as selected researchers from the English-speaking world 'looking in', this book will be particularly useful for students of criminology and practitioners across the Nordic countries, but also of relevance in a wider geographical context.
1. Introduction: Exceptional Prisons, Exceptional Societies? Part 1: Exceptions or Not? 2. Scandinavian Exceptionalism in Penal Matters - Reality or Wishful Thinking? 3. A Critical Look at Scandinavian Exceptionalism: Welfare State Theories, Penal Populism, and Prison Conditions in Denmark and Scandinavia 4. Media, Crime and Nordic Exceptionalism: The Limits of Convergence Part 2: Commodification of Exceptional Penal Systems 5. 'The Most Progressive, Effective Correctional System in the World': The Swedish Prison System in the 1960s and 1970s 6. Comparisons at Work - Exporting 'Exceptional' Norms Part 3: Closing in in the Nordic 1: Cultures of Equality? 7. The Dark Side of a Culture of Equality: Reimagining Communities in a Norwegian Remand Prison 8. Imprisoning the Soul 9. A Blessing in Disguise: The ADHD-diagnoses and Swedish Correctional Treatment Policy in the 21st Century Part 4: Closing in on the Nordic 2: Prison Management and Prison Cultures 10. Are Liberal Humanitarian Penal Values and Practices Exceptional? 11. Prison Size and the Quality of Life in Norwegian Closed Prisons in Late Modernity 12. A Harsher Prison Climate and a Cultural Heritage Working Against it - Sub-Cultural Divisions among Swedish Prison Officers Part 4: Scandinavian Exceptionalism Revisited 13. In Defence of Scandinavian Excpetionalism
