How can a U.S. correctional facility adapt to more humane principals and methods? Can Scandinavian incarceration practices, values and theories work inside an American prison? And what will a U.S. adaptation of these practices look like? Join us to explore these questions and more on May 2 with a presentation of Prison Project: Little Scandinavia and a panel at Scandinavia House. The program will begin with a screening of the documentary, which explores the Little Scandinavia unit of SCI Chester in Pennsylvania, followed by a discussion with Gina Clark (Superintendent, SCI Chester, Pennsylvania Department of Corrections), Martin Gillå (Head of International Unit, Kriminalvården (Swedish Prison and Probation Service)), and Are Høidal (Senior Advisor and former Governor of Halden Prison, Kriminalomsorgen (Norwegian Correctional Service)), moderated by ASF Fellow Jordan Hyatt.
One central goal of the Scandinavian correctional practices is to make good neighbors out of every inmate. In practice, this means treating every inmate with respect and dignity. Inspired by the philosophies of a larger degree of privacy, humanity and integrity, State Correctional Institution — Chester in Pennsylvania created a living unit that implements Swedish practices, dubbed Little Scandinavia, which opened in May 2022. The documentary follows the Little Scandinavia project from 2018 to early 2023, as key staff visits correctional facilities in Sweden and Norway in June 2019 to observe and learn how prisons in Scandinavia are run — with normality and humanity as core values — and return home to introduce and adapt elements from the Scandinavian penal system to their own environments. As 64 randomly selected inmates are transferred to the Little Scandinavia unit and isolated from the general population, new practices are implemented. These include moving from double cells to single cells, and having inmates order groceries and prepare meals for themselves.
This program will take place at Scandinavia House. Advance registration recommended; sign up at the link above.