Photo: Pennsylvania Dept. of Corrections
About 25% of people imprisoned worldwide are in US prisons, where overcrowding, violence and long sentences are common, and life expectancy of correctional officers is lower than the general population, unlike in Scandinavia. Researchers exploring how to adapt Scandinavian principles in US prisons are studying a pilot project in Pennsylvania. In March 2020, six ‘lifers’ in SCI Chester were selected as mentors and moved to a new housing unit, “Little Scandinavia,” which has single cells, a communal kitchen, Nordic furnishings and landscaped outdoor green space. In May 2022, 29 more prisoners were chosen to join the unit. A grocery program lets them order fresh foods from a local store and each day, they go to work, treatment or school, all within the prison. There is one correctional officer for eight residents, compared with the typical one for 128 residents. Norwegians say a prison needs to help incarcerated people return to society as good neighbors, the researchers say, and that is as true in Philadelphia as Oslo.
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