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Prison Food in Denmark: Normal Responsibility or Ethnocentric Imaginations?

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Scandinavian Penal History, Culture and Prison Practice

Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in Prisons and Penology ((PSIPP))

Abstract

All Scandinavian countries (Denmark, Norway, and Sweden) have incarceration rates below 71 per 100,000 inhabitants, with the notable exception of Greenland. These rates are significantly lower than most developed countries and scholars have associated this trend with the non-punitive ideals associated with the Nordic Welfare Model. Indeed, the Nordic Welfare Model has been historically characterized by social cohesion and a substantial reallocation of resources that perpetuates relatively small socio-economic differences between individuals (Kvist et al. 2012). In terms of criminal justice systems, these tenets suggest a system of corrections that is focused on rehabilitation and reintegration, not punishment (Pratt and Eriksson 2012; Pratt 2008).

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Greenland - which is a semi-independent jurisdiction within Denmark - has an incapacitation rate at 208 per 100,000 inhabitants (http://www.prisonstudies.org/highest-to-lowest/prison_population_rate?field_region_taxonomy_tid=All. Accessed on 15 December 2015).

  2. 2.

    The other principles are openness/transparency, which includes that incarcerated people are giving opportunities to establish and maintain contact with their relatives and the community. The principle also includes supporting that the connection between prisons and the surrounding is strengthened. Finally, transparency is seen as the best defense against suspicion of abuse of power that might occur when a system and its staff are equipped with so much power as is the case within the prison system. The principle of security is to ensure the implementation of detention and to prevent inmates from committing new crimes in prison and during furloughs. The prison and probation service have to execute penalties and thus have to protect citizens against crime and inmates from abuse and harmful impacts from fellow inmates. The principle to minimize interference includes developing solutions which interfere as little as possible with the prisoner’s life, and at the same time to ensure that the prison system is able to fulfill its task. Finally, the principle of the optimal use of resources includes that resources are used efficiently, flexibly, and based on need and to have a qualified staff that are able to fulfill their tasks in accordance with the principle of the program (Direktoratet for Kriminalforsorgen 1993 [Danish Prison and Probation Service]).

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Law, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark

    Linda Kjær Minke

  2. Department of Social Work, Southern Connecticut State University, New Haven, USA

    Amy B. Smoyer

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  1. Linda Kjær Minke
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  2. Amy B. Smoyer
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Correspondence to Linda Kjær Minke .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Criminology and Sociology of Law, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway

    Peter Scharff Smith

  2. Department of Criminology and Sociology of Law, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway

    Thomas Ugelvik

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Minke, L.K., Smoyer, A.B. (2017). Prison Food in Denmark: Normal Responsibility or Ethnocentric Imaginations?. In: Scharff Smith, P., Ugelvik, T. (eds) Scandinavian Penal History, Culture and Prison Practice. Palgrave Studies in Prisons and Penology. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-58529-5_15

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-58529-5_15

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