As promised, I visited a Danish Open prison this week. Jyderup Open Prison, approximately 70 km out of Copenhagen houses several hundred inmates in a beautiful pastoral setting. Open prisons are the second stage (of three) of the Danish criminal justice system. The Danes believe in a system called "normalisation" instead of simply incarceration. Normalisation refers to the idea that the prisoner should live in conditions as similar to outside life as possible. The lack of liberty and independence is the only punishment, unlike American prisons where threats of violence, disease, sexual abuse, and overcrowding are commonplace in addition to time spent without liberty. Closed prisons, the first level, are more rough, with less amenities, shared rooms, and more dangerous conditions. The most serious offenders (murders, rapists, etc) go to these prisons first, and there is a gang culture, particularly the Hell's Angels and other motorcycle gangs. After a amount of time considered sufficient, prisoners are promoted to the open prisons. Less serious offenders typically start in the open prison system.

Each prisoner maintains their own bathroom and sleeping room, which are very nice and cozy. They are allowed to bring in outside things from home, such as tvs, chairs, and computers, as long as they meet certain requirements and do not contain contraband. At the beginning of their sentence, they may take specific trips (accompanied by a guard until trust is earned). Eventually the amount of time and distance is increased and they are allowed to take leave to visit friends and family once a month (for a weekend visit). Prisoners rarely fail to return (under 5%) because they know doing so will only increase their sentence, and they will lose privileges. Each prisoner is given a weekly stipend to purchase food at the prison store, which he prepares for himself in the communal kitchen. He may supplement this money by doing work at the prison, which most do. Others attend school (with permission), or like our tour guide, Lars (a businessman serving time for money laundering) maintain their business from the inside using the telephone and the Internet. Personal responsibility is a major component of the Danish prison system. After an amount of time in the open prison, prisoners are on parole, with monitoring.

I was incredibly impressed. Although this system would never work in the States due to shear size, it seems to work well here. As several of the guards said, "if you treat prisoners like animals, they become animals." This can be shown easily in American prisons, in which petty thieves end up more hardened and dangerous after spending time. In America, rehabilitation doesn't exist, and the problem keeps getting larger. Danes work to change citizens to become normal people who follow the rules, in America, as I see it, we are simply focused on revenge. I could discuss this issue for a long time, as I find it very interesting, but I don't want to be up all night!

I've done some other fun things this week. On Wednesday, I went to the Danish National Museum and saw a particularly interesting exhibit on the Nazis' occupation during WWII. My knowledge of northern Europe during the time has been increased dramatically. I will have to go back though, as the pre-historic section (Vikings) was closed for renovation. In addition, I went to the Death Cab for Cutie concert on Saturday night at a local night club. It was an incredible experience, and a much better show than the one I saw in Chicago. I slept in late today. :)

This evening, a large group of those who share my kitchen made a large feast of pasta, pizza, salad, breads and dessert. It was delicious! We were attempting to have a Valentine's Day theme, and share our love through food! Here is a group picture:





L-R (Name forgotten, Elena, Richard, Morten, Julien, Astrid, Malyna, Matt, Jorgen). Countries of origin include Hungary (1), Romania (1), Faroe Islands (1), Denmark (3), France (1) and the USA (3). An international meal!










This week should be exciting as I will be taking my first long trip (3 days) to the Northern most part of Denmark; the most northern part of Continental Europe! More pictures will come then!