Rehabilitation and re-entry in Scandinavia

Todd-Kvam, John; Ugelvik, Thomas

doi:10.4324/9781315102832-17

Cited by 9 publications

(8 citation statements)

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“…Penal voluntary organizations have also taken on greater responsibility in reentry work (Koffeld-Hamidane et al, 2023). Discrepancies between aims and practices related to resettlement have been highlighted by practitioners and researchers (Johnsen and Fridhov, 2019;Koffeld-Hamidane et al, 2023;Todd-Kvam and Ugelvik, 2019). Prison staff report fewer opportunities to engage in reentry work, while probation caseworkers are concerned about the impact of the recent changes on rehabilitation and desistance (Actis, 2020;Koffeld-Hamidane et al, 2023;Todd-Kvam, 2020), and researchers point out how the increasing risk focus has re-shaped the Norwegian penal field (Todd-Kvam, forthcoming).…”

Section: Resettlement Practice In Norwaymentioning

confidence: 99%

Nuances of fragmentation, (mis)recognition and closeness: Narratives of challenges and support during resettlement

Koffeld-Hamidane,

Schinkel,

Andvig

et al. 2023

Punishment & Society

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The transition from prison to society tends to be tough and painful for people in resettlement and challenging to facilitate for professionals. The Norwegian Correctional Services aim for a continuous reentry focus throughout the prison sentence. Norway has been presented as one of the Nordic exceptional penal states, partly based on ‘the encouraging pattern of officer-inmate interactions’. However, this exceptional picture has been criticized for paying more attention to discourse than to lived experiences. As newly released persons’ experiences of interaction and relationships with staff and of how these facilitate and frustrate their reentry processes have largely been ignored, this article draws attention to their perspectives. Inspired by narrative analysis, in cooperation with persons with lived experience, we constructed three stories of challenges and support during resettlement. Through these in-depth presentations of frustrating misrecognition, ignorance and fragmentation, but also of closeness, continuity, recognition, belonging and de-stigmatization, this study provides important insights into how interaction and relationships with staff enable and constrain reentry to society. By bringing lived experience into the discourse of Nordic exceptionalism, this article adds valuable perspectives to this still ongoing debate. Overall, we argue for a revitalization of the primary officer role and a broader approach to resettlement to facilitate support throughout the prison sentence.

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Section: Resettlement Practice In Norwaymentioning

confidence: 99%

Nuances of fragmentation, (mis)recognition and closeness: Narratives of challenges and support during resettlement

Koffeld-Hamidane,

Schinkel,

Andvig

et al. 2023

Punishment & Society

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“…Of course, in many countries, for most prisoners, the end of imprisonment is not the end of state sanction; licence conditions and community supervision are usually imposed post-release, meaning that freedom is not total (McNeill, 2019a(McNeill, , 2019bTodd-Kvam and Ugelvik, 2019). Nevertheless, for decades scholars have suggested that more should be done to mark the exit from prison, and indeed the end of punishment (Braithwaite and Mugford, 1994;Maruna, 2011;Travis, 2000).…”

Section: Literaturementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Surprisingly, though, release itself is rarely described in scholarly prisons literature. While there is an array of literature on resettlement and reintegration (Maruna and Immarigeon, 2004;Todd-Kvam and Ugelvik, 2019;Western, 2018), the actual moment of release is seldom mentioned. Travis et al (2001: 18) reference the 'small but significant details' which shape the day of release (such as the time of day one is allowed to walk out the gate, or the point at which one is reunited with family and how this happens) but acknowledge that there has been very little empirical research into the release event specifically.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

‘Thank you for having me’: The experiences and meanings of release from prison in Norway and England & Wales

2022

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The day of release from prison can be one of the most highly anticipated events for prisoners, and one which holds a place in the public imagination as a significant and transformative moment. Yet in scholarly literature, although there is much on prisoner resettlement and reintegration, the moment of release itself is seldom mentioned. Drawing on interviews ( N:455) from a comparative research project in Norway and England & Wales, this paper will zoom in on the micro-processes that shape exit, capturing how prisoners prepare for release, the procedures and practices of the release day, and their first encounter with the outside world. In both countries, there was a juxtaposition of personal significance and institutional banality around exit, which contrast sharply with the highly ritualistic processes of sentencing and entry and which frequently led prisoners to reflect on the nature of their punishment and the meaning of their time in prison. By highlighting the details of release, the paper will explore these ideas, probing the boundaries that exist between the inside and outside worlds and connecting the experiences of exit with conceptual ideas of how punishment is experienced and how prisoners create meaning.

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“…Another caseworker described needing to get practicalities sorted to avoid a feeling of failure and create a sense of achievement, particularly for those who may have tried and failed before. Johnsen and Fridhov (2019) and Todd-Kvam and Ugelvik (2019) have though described how coordinating all the relevant services to enable a smooth reintegration process remains a challenge. As one caseworker describes,So what I often find difficult, is that they can get out of prison and they have a desire to change their lives, they have a desire to of course not go to prison again, but also to start work.…”

Section: Practice Descriptions – Relationships Capital and Practical ...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The research that does address probation tends, like much penal exceptionalism research, to take a systemic, top-down perspective. Ploeg and Sandlie (2011), Johnsen and Fridhov (2019), and Todd-Kvam and Ugelvik (2019) take this perspective in providing systemic accounts of how probation should work in the eyes of policy makers, while identifying challenges to delivery of these policy goals. Similarly, Ploeg (2017) describes how central features of the Norwegian Correctional Service apply to probation, highlighting discretionary authority as a key element of community sanctions.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Probation practice, desistance and the penal field in Norway

Todd-Kvam

2020

Criminology & Criminal Justice

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While Scandinavia in general and Norway in particular have been the focus of much criminological interest, the work of probation has largely been overlooked in favour of prisons. This article seeks therefore to contribute to our knowledge of Norwegian penality and desistance by analysing how probation caseworkers describe their practice. Caseworkers have a relational, contextualised understanding of probation clients and the challenges they face. That being said, even in a Scandinavian welfare state, caseworkers see the process of reintegration and change as difficult, highlighting a lack of human and social capital and the challenges of navigating an increasingly complex and impersonal welfare apparatus.

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Rehabilitation and re-entry in Scandinavia

Cited by 9 publications

References 0 publications

Nuances of fragmentation, (mis)recognition and closeness: Narratives of challenges and support during resettlement

Nuances of fragmentation, (mis)recognition and closeness: Narratives of challenges and support during resettlement

‘Thank you for having me’: The experiences and meanings of release from prison in Norway and England & Wales

Probation practice, desistance and the penal field in Norway

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