Intersection. Prison Is Not for Punishment

• Author: Liane Jackson
• Pages: 9-10

Inter Alia

BY LIANE JACKSON

Intersection is a col-

umn that explores

issues of race, gen-

der and law across

America’s criminal

and social justice

landscape.

We help each other—

that’s what we do here

is we help each other.”

It wasn’t the senti-

ment I expected to hear from a guard

describing his interaction with inmates

at the high-security prison outside

Stockholm. Max, who is also a counsel-

or at Österåker Prison, was addressing

a group of men with convictions rang-

ing from drug trafcking to homicide,

and he was reassuring everyone that

they were in a safe space. Correc-

tions ofcers in Sweden are trained to

carefully cultivate relationships with

the inmates they guard, with the goal

of promoting rehabilitation, ensuring

security and working toward reentry.

Before my visit to Österåker, Hanna

Jarl, director of the Swedish Prison and

Probation Service, told me that guards

do not carry guns.

Despite her clear English, I had trou-

ble translating.

“No one has guns?” I repeated back.

“No.”

“Except perhaps in a perime-

ter tower?”

“No, there are no guns,” she

said again.

“But some guards somewhere on

the prison grounds have guns, correct?

Perhaps at your maximum security pris-

ons?” I persisted, like a broken record.

“In Sweden, we are working close

to the inmates,” Jarl explained. “And

that’s our best security tool instead of

using guns.”

The Swedish Prison and Probation

Service refers to inmates as “clients,”

and says its emphasis on rehabilitation

reduced recidivism from 42% to 29%

over 16 years. In the U.S., the recidi-

vism rate for inmates in state prisons

was 68%, according to the latest U.S.

Bureau of Justice Statistics report. Cor-

rections ofcers at Österåker attest to

the changes they witness within prison

walls, and inmates will tell you they are

on a better path.

“Taking a urine sample is ‘an act of

love to keep you from harming your-

self,’” says client administrator Filiz

Erkek. “We promote that quite hard

here—it’s for the greater good.”

Erkek’s description of how guards

at Österåker Prison approach inmates’

mandatory drug testing was just one

of many dissonant moments. Inmates

shared pats on the back, hugs and

words of encouragement. Most had pri-

vate rooms, and each ward had its own

communal kitchen. It was a surreal and

collegial world more akin to a universi-

ty dorm than a U.S. penitentiary.

At Österåker, there are opportunities

to learn job skills like tiling; inmates

put on plays; there is a fully stocked

INTERSECTION

Prison Is

Not for

Punishment

Behind bars in Scandinavia,

and what we can learn

edited by

LIANE JACKSON

liane.jackson@americanbar.org

Outside Österåker Prison near Stockholm

Photos by Elin Aberg/ABA Journal; Callie Lipkin/ABA Journal

ABA JOURNAL | FEBRUARY–MARCH 2020

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