Summary Scandinavian countries have the reputation of being the cradle of many modern penitentiary reforms. They attract the interest of international milieu of both scientist and practitioners that deal with the execution of punishment and particularly with imprisonment. It is easy to describe a system, to state the number of institutions, and staff, and to describe the nature of the programs. Yet it does not explain the nature and the essence of the system. A simple description is not enough to understand why it is the way it is. The Scandinavian countries are characterized as core examples of welfare state with a collective desire for social growth and evolution, tolerance, pluralism, respect for the law and interpersonal respect. They are perceived as countries of collective individualism, care for children, equal status of woman and man, and efforts to reintegrate those punished by the criminal law. The book is about the penitentiary system of Scandinavian countries within the legal, criminal and penitentiary policy perspective. It is about the penitentiary systems in Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland. Island is mentioned, but not elaborated in the way the other countries are. The goal was not to simply present the penitentiary system of each of the countries. It was rather to find out the conditions and the processes behind its relative leniency and stability when compared to Poland or other European countries. The book searches for what is common and different among these countries and tries to answer the question - is treating these penitentiary systems, as common Scandinavian ones, justified. The goal was to understand the nature of these systems and to avoid creating a new myth of the Scandinavian penitentiary paradise. Therefore the search for the driving forces behind recent prison growth, also in Scandinavian countries, is very much present in the analysis. Last but not least, it checks to what extent the Scandinavian penitentiary experiences are of value for the Polish prison system. The author was aware that neither the description of the system nor the conclusions drawn from the study are entirely objective. Coming from Poland where law, legal practice and culture is different, affect the way the author carried out and evaluated the analysis. Comparative studies are from their very nature complicated. They are oriented not on mere description but rather explanation of the process that leads to certain social effects. They are complicated also because of the lack of proper methodology for this kind of study. It required presenting the penitentiary system within the scope of the roles criminal law plays within the system of social control. Social control is often identified in Poland with criminal law. It is just one of several tools to control social behavior. It can also be controlled by civil, conciliatory, medical, educational and other measures. This study demonstrates it. Penitentiary policy is just a part of the criminal control system and Scandinavian practice proves that it is doesn’t necessarily have to be the prevailing one. This work traces the mental, cultural, political and technical roots that helped such development. It required building up a specific methodology which covers criminal law, criminal policy as well as penitentiary policy within the axiological, historical, legal and social context. Nils Christie in one of his book warned the reader: “Det går ikke å forstå norsk kriminalitet hvis man ikke også forstår det norske samfunnet” (It is impossible to understand Norwegian criminality without understanding the Norwegian society, Hvor tett et samfunn?, 1982, p. 9). This refers to other societies as well. Small numbers of inmates, fairly rare problems with overcrowding (especially in the past), well trained staff, esthetic milieu for both staff and inmates - this is the picture Scandinavian penitentiary is well known for. They are perceived as humane in comparison with the rest of the world. For the Scandinavians, however, it is not an argument. The appalling stage of penitentiary in many countries, should not unable the elimination of problems present in the Scandinavian system. The analysis of the cultural and political mechanisms responsible for the present state of the penitentiary systems were carefully conducted to avoid creating an image of a penitentiary paradise. The sense of collective conscious which was elaborated by Durkheim is expressed not only in the law but also in the history and culture of the countries. Therefore, those elements were also included in the analysis of arguments, as they help to keep the reasonable seize of penitentiary and prevent out-casting inmates. The same analysis were essential to comprehend what makes the system tremble and what increases the number of inmates and the level of condemnation. The book has 12 chapters. It starts with the presentation of the nature of the book, it’s methodology and it’s structure. The four countries, as well as major definitions, are introduced. In Scandinavian countries the term “kriminalpolitik” includes the legislative process of deciding which behaviors are to be punished, as well as the activity of the criminal court and penitentiary practice. In Poland, there are three different concepts introduced by Emil Rappaport. The distinction is between legal, criminal, and penitentiary policy. This division is used in the book for it allowed to analyze the historical and contemporary process of establishing the concept of crime and punishment. Penitentiary policy depends also on such processes as changes in the role and goals of punishment, development of new penal measures, as well as criminalization and decriminalization. There are several crucial observations described from the beginning of this work. There is no relation between the number of crime and number of inmates. Michel Foucault’s and Nils Christie’s analysis are used to support the political dimension of the legal and criminal policy. Most people break the law, but just special few are delegated to serve the prison system. Well elaborated in the work of Vagn Greve, Britta Kyvsgaard, Thomas Mathiesen and others proves - what is often neglected elsewhere - that most inmates came from troubled milieu and face social, psychological and economical difficulties. The understanding of the above phenomena is very specific for Scandinavia. Studying the activity of Nordic institutions from the Nordic Council, via Scandinavian Research Council for Criminology up to KRUM trace the characteristics of the welfare-state societies oriented on efficacy and humanity within a system of sanctions. The Nordic cooperation on legislation, on prison-development etc explains the similarities in development and practice. It also gives good reasons to discuss the countries within the scope of one system. While it is necessary to search back in history to see the development in Norway, Denmark and in Sweden, the situation in Finland has a modern explanation. The relation between politics, culture and punishment is most noticeable with the Finnish example. It is especially interesting for Poland. There are many similarities in the history and development of the two countries. Long dependence from another country, and the shadow of communism that affected both administration and social mentality. Brutal experiences of World War II and experience of tough, rather inhumane penitentiary system still in the second half of the XXth century. All this changed in Finland, and this process is easy to follow. Keeping people in prison is costly - not only in financial, but also in humanitarian, terms. The trend present in Finland proved the power of political will, when it comes to penitentiary policy. The stunning decrease in the Finnish prison population is analyzed, based on the work of Patrik Törnudd, Tapio Lappi-Seppälä, Hanns Von Hofer and others. Technical measures are interesting, yet the most significant was the will to join the rest of Scandinavian countries and not be identified with Soviet history and policy. Culture and politics rather than dynamic and structure of criminality have an impact on criminal and penitentiary policy. The new “law and order” policy, the harsh attitude towards drug addicts and immigrants are suddenly perceived as major political problems in all four countries. This new phenomena however is not a decline of the rehabilitative ideal. This strongly distinguishes Scandinavia from other European countries and from the USA. The common goals set up for criminal policy, the common activity within criminal justice, penitentiary and criminological study are themselves a sufficient reason to write about the Scandinavian prison system. Yet, at the same time the particular solutions show different paths over the last 50 years at least, in countries like Norway and Denmark, or Finland and Sweden, in grasping the problem of drugs, immigration, morals and law. The book brings a description of the development of criminal law in each of the countries. It is an introduction to present their penitentiary system. It is preceded by a history of the Scandinavian penitentiary system, sources of social justice and equality present among Nordic societies as well moral, political and social environment enhancing auxiliary and pragmatic role of law. Protestantism, development of civil service, and general education patterns together with legal Scandinavian philosophy is taken here into consideration. The historical and social determinants play a vital role in shaping the nature of the four elaborated systems. This part puts an emphasis on dealing with imprisonment in the stage of harm awareness. On January 11,2006 the new Council of Europe Recommendation on the European Prison Rules came into force. It was strongly based on the concept of normalization introduced into Scandinavia some years ago. The presentation of each country focuses on issues concerning the social and psychological as well as financial costs of imprisonment. Scandinavian prisons are far from being perfect, but stressing the harm prisons cause is a necessary step in shaping the policy and practice which minimize it. The relation between prison and probation is very interesting for Polish practice. Its presence is a necessary condition for the system to work. Civil, law abiding, well trained, and well treated penitentiary and probation services, are a condition sine qua non for combining prison and probation services. This would not work-out well with the para-military penitentiary system - where overpopulation is a constant issue and law is treated as technical term, a union between prison staff and probation officers might bring more harm than help. This is one of the several examples discussed as a limit when considering the possible replication of Scandinavian patterns in Poland. The practice set up for conditional release, treating the law seriously, and equal care for inmates and staff are evaluated as positive examples and are strongly suggested to be followed. The closing chapter is not simply a summary. The core issues of the relative Scandinavian leniency, relative stability and recent changes in the penitentiary practice are discussed within a comparative prospect of society self-perception. The level of trust for the government, the level of happiness, and level of life quality are just a few examples used to present a broader platform to analyze the effects that the organization of penitentiary system has on society. It is once more proved that prison not only reflects the basic structure of a society, it also shapes it. The Scandinavian countries went through specific evolution from retribution, through treatment ideology, neo-classic just desert up to the neo-positivist attitude with aims at treating imprisonment as the last resort. The process was strongly determined by the concept of solidarity and common social responsibility. It might not be that strong at present yet in Poland it should help reminding the ideas practiced in early 80-ties, when the country faced prison reform. The Scandinavian analysis helps to understand how to reach positive changes and also how to keep them. It is not easy, yet the understanding of the vogue relation between criminality and imprisonment is an important component of that very process. Translated Monika Platek
Książka prezentuje systemy Danii, Finlandii, Norwegii i Szwecji. Autorka stara się dociec: Co jest przyczyną i co tłumaczy fenomen skandynawskiej względnej łagodności oraz stabilności systemu penitencjarnego? Czy można mówić o jednolitym systemie skandynawskim?
Publikacja bada również powody wzrostu populacji więziennej w Skandynawii oraz to, co z penitencjarnych doświadczeń skandynawskich wynika dla nas w Polsce, na progu nowego tysiąclecia. Czy doświadczenia skandynawskie mogą mieć charakter uniwersalny i jakie warunki muszą być spełnione, żeby można je było skutecznie replikować.
Książka sięga też do kulturowych korzeni (wspólnej tradycji historycznej, wzajemnej zależności i długich okresów współpracy) i tam poszukuje wyjaśnienia stosunków panujących w polityce karnej tych państw. Zauważa, że to "kapitał społeczny" - istnienie więzi społecznych, poczucie wspólnoty, wyznawanie wspólnych wartości - w dużym stopniu pozwala na internalizacje norm i tym samym przeciwdziała naruszaniu prawa.
