PWG – Norwegian prisons as foreign policy

• In Event: PWG - International approaches to punishment, governance, and reform

Abstract

The Norwegian penal model has been explored extensively in comparative criminology and welfare research. From a global perspective, punishment is considered something the Norwegians are “good” or even “exceptional” at. In recent years, however, the Norwegian prison system has faced critical challenges including budget cuts, staff reductions, and a more complex inmate population. Headlines like “Norway No Longer Has the World's Best Correctional System” and “Sounding the Alarm on Norwegian Prisons: Like the Titanic Before the Iceberg” have featured in national media over the last few years. Evaluations reveal that Norwegian prison officers experience severe psychological strain, compounded by threats and violence, in an under-resourced environment (Rambøll, 2023). Paradoxically, while these domestic issues persist, the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs invests millions of EUR each year in developing penal systems abroad (EEA and Norway grants, n.d).

This paper examines the integration of prison expertise into Norwegian foreign policy. Through analysis of policy documents and interviews, it investigates the motivations behind Norway's involvement in international prison projects, focusing on the underlying values, morals, and gains of these investments. The study argues that this phenomenon extends beyond merely supporting foreign correctional systems. The engagements have become a foreign policy tool, aimed at fostering international trade, reputation, security, and diplomacy, by utilising an area Norway is “good at”. By combining criminology and IR scholarship, the paper offers a novel perspective on Scandinavian penal exceptionalism, nation branding and criminal justice as a technology of foreign affairs.

Author

• Katrine Antonsen, Department of Criminology and Sociology of Law, University of Oslo