“It is said that no one truly knows a country until he is in prison.” – Nelson Mandela
Thirteen Connecticut justice system stakeholders recently joined the University of Connecticut’s Institute for Local Government and Regional Policy (IMRP) to investigate the correctional services system, which is generally regarded as the most humane. participated in a fact-finding mission to Norway. When Valid worldwide.
We visited three cities: Bergen, Oslo and Meissen, and visited three prison facilities (Bergen, Bjorgbin, Indre Ostfold) and an intermediate facility. We witnessed their youth, young adults, men, women, high and low restricted areas. We met with colleagues who work inside and outside the system and those affected by it.
We saw how their countries turned broken systems around in the early 90s and 2000s through their commitment to human rights, high standards, and reinvention. We are breaking bread with young cops who are newly trained in that novel system and face the familiar and difficult task of intervening with people whose lives have been filled with trauma, addiction and psychosis. I got
It was a transformative experience.
I learned that Norwegian correctional services are based on a simple yet profound belief in how ‘punishment’ is defined. The rest is rehabilitation. So the prison’s goal becomes very simple. Making good neighbors.
As one prison officer said: larger society. “
The execution of this belief is noble yet very simple. By structuring their actions on the underlying theory of using correctional services to “make good neighbors,” all who work within the correctional system are committed to helping incarcerated individuals successfully reintegrate into society. play their respective roles.
In doing so, they learn that the most effective and wise way to achieve this goal is to treat people humanely, with a normality that reflects life in the larger society. For Norwegians, this can only be achieved through what they see as the ‘import model’. It is a transparent, collaborative, inclusive and fair system that draws on the same quality of services from outside society and engages multiple stakeholders in the collective rehabilitation process. Rehabilitation is a difficult task, but they see it as a duty to society and attempt to achieve it through stages of constant reflection and reinvention.
result? Norwegian correctional services produce better social security for both incarcerated individuals and their associates than most countries in the world, including her Safer prison in the United States. A safer community, as those who return to freedom are much less likely to commit future criminal acts. Using taxpayer dollars in a more cost-effective way makes society as a whole safer, because it increases trust in the system, its institutions, and each other.
With these results, Norway is often viewed through an almost utopian lens in the discourse of justice. It is based on recognizing the common humanity of people and those who live behind walls. Seeing humanity in action gives hope for a better future for those who have returned home. rice field.
The way we treat people who have committed even the most heinous crimes not only demonstrates our ability to turn them away from their deeds, but it also speaks to how we respect our common humanity. Service providers, policy makers, researchers, families, former prisoners and yes, our neighbors.
Many of us believe that the US model of incarceration has serious consequences for everyone involved in life. Conversely, Norway is doing the right thing. Countries that have achieved such transformative results deserve to be emulated.
Rep. Robin Porter represents the 94th District of Hampden and New Haven. She co-chairs the Labor and Civil Service Committee and serves on the Appropriations and Judiciary Committees, a position she has held for nearly a decade.
Jacob Warblow is a professor at the College of Education at Central Connecticut State University and a former US Fulbright Scholar (Kyoto, Japan).
Danielle T. Cooper is Associate Professor of Criminal Justice at the Henry C. Lee College of Criminal Justice and Forensic Sciences at the University of New Haven and Director of Research at the Tow Youth Justice Institute.
Barbara Fair is a licensed clinical social worker who has spent decades of her life helping to improve conditions within Connecticut’s cancer system. The passage of her PROTECT Act in Connecticut in May 2022 is a step toward potentially transforming how people in Ct prisons and prisons are treated.
Robert J. Gillis is a Retired Jailer and Director of Parole and Community Services for the Connecticut Department of Corrections.
Iliana Pujols is Policy Director for the Connecticut Justice Alliance and co-chair of the state’s Juvenile Justice Policy and Oversight Committee Community Expertise Workgroup.
Brittany LaMarr is a project manager for the Juvenile Justice Policy and Oversight Committee at the Tow Youth Justice Institute in Connecticut.
Hope Metcalf is a co-teacher at Yale Law School’s Lowenstein International Human Rights Clinic. Along with her students, she represented Connecticut’s incarcerated people against the use of solitary confinement and other forms of abuse.
Andrew Clark directs UConn’s Institute for Local Government and Regional Policy, whose mission is to effectively stimulate and sustain a just, equitable, and inclusive Connecticut.
Aileen Keays directs the Connecticut Children of Incarcerated Parents initiative at UConn to help children with incarcerated parents and their families.
David J. McGuire is Executive Director of the CT Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU-CT).
Eulalia Garcia is District Administrator and Director of Programs and Treatments for the Connecticut Department of Corrections.
Trina Sexton is the Director of York Correctional Institution for the Connecticut Department of Corrections.
[ad_2]
Source link
