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Greenland's Open InstitutionImprisonment in a Land without Prisons

NCJ Number
241988
Journal
Journal of Scandinavian Studies in Criminology and Crime Prevention Volume: 13 Issue: Supplement 1 Dated: 2012 Pages: 47-56
Author(s)
Annemette Nyborg Lauritsen
Date Published
2012
Length
10 pages
Annotation
The purpose of this article is to examine Greenlandic institutions and how it differs from prisons.
Abstract
Within European sociology of law, Greenland has been highlighted as a unique and exceptional society. The background for this is found in the Greenlandic criminal code of 1954, which stood out from other Western penal legislation. The link between guilt and punishment was broken, and measures were to be chosen based on what best served the reentry of the offender into society. Prisons had no place in the criminal code - nor in Greenland. Instead, Greenland has open institutions. The purpose of this article is to examine the growth of the Greenlandic institutions; who it is that populates the Greenlandic institutions; life in the institutions; and the position of the institutional sentence in society, as well as how the institution differs from prison. Abstract published by arrangement with Taylor and Francis.