Why are people interested in the Norwegian prison system?

“It is said that one truly knows a nation until one has been inside the prisons. A Nation should not be judged by how it treats it highest citizens, but its lowest” the most famous prisoner Nelson Mandela said.

I felt humble when Mandelas prison officer said yes to visit Halden prison with me in connection with the research of my latest book.

“This is not a prison”, he said. And that is also the start of our book.

This year I have had the privileged to travel a lot to talk about our book “The Norwegian Prison System- Halden Prison and beyond.” at Routledge publisher in New York.

On the 18th of July this year I will do a book launch in New York and on the 19th July in Washington DC. If you are in US, I really hope to see you there!

My co-author @Are H?idal and I have had two book launches in Norway at Krus in Lillestr?m and at Red Cross G26 in Oslo. And when H?idal visited Swiss and England to share the history and his experiences from the Norwegian Prison System, I visited the Scottish Parliament and Katy Clark MSP and the Justice committee to talk about the book.

It was an awesome to travel to Scotland with Nina Kvanmo, Isak Bj?rnestad, Helen Jenssen and Jan-Erik ?stlie who contributed with their knowledge, experience and music. Thank you Nina K for again singing on one of my book launches! We also visited the HMP Edinburgh prison during our trip!

My heart made a jump when givernor David Abernethy said to me after the launch:

“Your book is so much more than just about prisons and imprisonment, it’s about social justice and the political will to change the way a country might look at offending and it’s real causes.”

This is why I am a writer. To make a difference and try to change the world to the better. I am really excited about my visit to US and I really hope I will be able to hand over a book to president Joe Biden and other decisionmakers in US.

I have visited many prisons in Norway, Sweden, Denmark Germany, Scottland and Hungary, but also spend some days in Chester prison in Pennsylvania in US where they recently opened the ?Little Scandinavia? project. Here they are introducing prison care like dynamic security, normality principle and contact officers that we have in Norway. I am so impressed by the work @jordan hyatt ordan hyatt and @Syn?ve nygaard Andersen do here.

In New York 18.july you will also meet Marayca Lopez-Ferrer who will share her experiences from this project. But you will also meet the story and valuable experience from the great Glenn E. Martin who recently visited two prisons in Norway.

Can punishment change people? Or what do we do in Norway to help people change? Who do we want as neighbours ?

And is parts of the Norwegian Correctional Service really worth exporting to US?

These are questions I will bring to the board in US and I really looking forward to meet people in CAP and politicians who belive in change.

Our intention with the book is not to give THE answer to the challenges, but to give a view of the Norwegian correctional service and policies, where underlying values and principles as well as the practical implementation of these policies are highlighted.

Remember, in Norway:

? The punishment is the restriction of liberty; no

other rights have been removed by the sentencing

court. Therefore, the sentenced offender has all

the same rights as all others who live in Norway.

? No-one shall serve their sentence under stricter circumstances than necessary for the security in the

community.

? During the serving of a sentence, life inside will

resemble life outside as much as possible.

This means that while prisons employ the correctional officers and other prison staff, the staff delivering medical, educational, employment, clerical, or library services are “imported” from the community.

Even though correctional services are seen as very humane in the Nordic countries , there are still challenges here.

These are also discussions we will bring to New York and Washington DC. Hope to see you?