| Video on Danish prisons Punishing Criminals in Denmark and the Netherlands (from Criminology: A Sociological Understanding, Steven E. Barkan, Pearson/Prentice Hall, 2009) The US response to crime has focused on harsher and more certain imprisonment for criminals. Although this policy is politically popular, it arguably has done very little, if anything, to reduce crime. In Europe, various nations have confronted rising crime with very different measures and have rates of imprisonment (number of inmates per 100,000 population) up to ten times lower than the US rate. Let�s take a look at the European experience and focus on Denmark and the Netherlands. Europe in general is far more pessimistic than the United States about the effectiveness of imprisonment. As Matti Joutsen and Norman Bishop, two officials at the Helsinki Institute for Crime Prevention and Control, observed, �Skepticism concerning the prison as a place of treatment has now become a part of formal criminal policy in virtually every European country.� Almost all European criminal justice officials surveyed by the Helsinki Institute think prison often makes offenders worse and that alternative sanctions should be used whenever possible. They also acknowledge that prison overcrowding increases the chances that prisoners will come out of prison worse than when they went in. These views led Europe to favor probation and community service as alternatives to prison. Although these are not a cure-all for crime, said Joutsen and Bishop, they �are at least as successful as sentences of imprisonment on several important counts, and � lack many of the drawbacks of imprisonment.� The experience of Denmark and the Netherlands illustrates the European approach. Denmark began to face a growing crime problem in the 1960s, which continued into the next decade. According to H.H. Brydensholt of Denmark�s Prison and Probation Administration, the increase in crime stemmed from several reasons, including growing industrialization, rising youth drug use, and increasing unemployment. In response, Denmark devised a multifaceted response in 1973 that in many ways was the opposite of US crime policy. It replaced longer indeterminate sentences (e.g., 3 to 7 years) with shorter fixed ones, reduced the length of prison terms and the number of offenses (especially nonviolent property offenses) leading to imprisonment, and reallocated funds from prisons to community-based corrections. These measures reduced the number of Danish prisoners during the next several years. Denmark had several reasons for wanting to reduce imprisonment. First, it considered imprisonment a harsh measure because it stigmatized inmates and hurt their families. Second, it feared that imprisonment would lessen inmates� self-respect and increase their aggressiveness and other problems. Third, it considered imprisonment too harsh a penalty for many nonviolent property offenses. Finally, Denmark realized that it would be prohibitively expensive to put more people in prison. The Netherlands� view of and experience with imprisonment is similar to Denmark�s. Like Denmark, it considers imprisonment a costly, ineffective alternative to be avoided whenever possible, and it favors relatively short prison terms for offenders who need to be imprisoned. Much of the Dutch distaste for imprisonment can be traced to its culture, which among other things emphasizes trusting in people and helping the disadvantaged. An important reason for the Netherlands� low crime rate is the government commitment to providing economic help for poorer Dutch citizens. Although the number of Dutch prisoners has risen since the 1960s because of growing crime rates, the Dutch policy of short prison terms has kept this number from rising as high as it would have otherwise. The United States is admittedly very different from Denmark, the Netherlands, and other European nations. Even so, our strikingly different view of punishment and imprisonment is worth considering. Our experience reminds us that not only is our ready use of prisons not reducing the crime problem, but it may even be making it worse. At the minimum, it is costing us billions of dollars that could be spent on crime prevention and alternatives to incarceration that would be at least as effective and less expensive. Sources: Bijleveld and Smit 2005; Brydensholt 1992; Downes 1996; Johnson and Heijder 1983; Joutsen and Bishop 1994. |
| Imprisonment Rates (per 100,000 population) US 756 Denmark 63 Netherlands 100 Recidivism rates are about twice as high in the US as in Denmark and the Netherlands. |