A More Nordic Norway? Examining Prisons in 21st Century Iceland
| Date | 01 June 2018 |
| Published date | 01 June 2018 |
| Author | FRANCIS PAKES,HELGI GUNNLAUGSSON |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/hojo.12244 |
The Howard Journal Vol57 No 2. June 2018 DOI: 10.1111/hojo.12244
ISSN 2059-1098, pp. 137–151
A More Nordic Norway? Examining
Prisons in 21st Century Iceland
FRANCIS PAKES and HELGI GUNNLAUGSSON
Francis Pakes is Professor of Criminology, Institute of Criminal Justice Studies,
University of Portsmouth; Helgi Gunnlaugsson is Professor in Sociology,
Faculty of Social and Human Sciences, University of Iceland, Iceland
Abstract: This article seeks to examine the exact status of Iceland in light of the Nordic
penal exceptionalism thesis. This thesis considers that punishment in the Nordic countries
is fundamentally more benign than that in Anglophone countries (Pratt 2008a, 2008b).
Yet from this perspective the remote Nordic country of Iceland remains overlooked. That
is unfortunate as, at first sight, there is much to be intrigued about: Iceland’s prison rate
is very low; Iceland is small and homogeneous which may offer cultural or structural
pre-conditions for a positive penal system. Its penal estate is tiny with a small number of
very small prisons. In addition, Iceland has a history of low crime rates and a tradition
of lenient sentencing practices. All this makes it interesting to consider whether the penal
exceptionalism thesis (Pratt and Eriksson 2011) actually extends to Iceland. To what
extent does Iceland fit the Nordic mould of penal practice?
Keywords: Iceland; Nordic countries; penal exceptionalism; prisons
Nordic Penal Exceptionalism: Finding Iceland
John Pratt put Nordic penal exceptionalism firmly on the criminologi-
cal agenda (Pratt 2008a, 2008b). His two papers from 2008 in the British
Journal of Criminology described penal practice in Norway, Sweden, and
Finland. This was then placed in sharp contrast to what they called
Anglophone penal excess in Pratt and Eriksson’s (2011) subsequent book.
Pratt travelled to the Nordic countries to establish why penal practice was
restrained, positive, and generally formed an exception to penal trends
worldwide. Ironically, the key ingredient of exceptionalism is in fact its
semantic opposite, normalisation. It refers to efforts to maintain in prison,
life as a state of normality, for prison life to be as ‘normal’ as possible in
order to facilitate Nordic prisons’ main objective of preparing prisoners
forareturntosociety.ThecommonphraseusedisthatNordicprisons
are places of punishment but not places for punishment: the deprivation of
liberty is in fact the punishment, while the stay in prison should facilitate a
prisoner’s betterment or personal growth.
137
C
2018 The Howard League and John Wiley & Sons Ltd
Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd, 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK
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