Detention in Greenland

Detention in Greenland by Helene Brochmann. Meddelester om Greenland, Man & Society 25. Copenhagen: Danish Polar Centre. 2001.

Sometimes a small country has the capacity to refresh our minds and clear some air. In the public clamour for minimal risk and tougher prison conditions over the past decade, much prison discourse has been about fence building, tighter security, and restricted privileges. Prisoners who have been sentenced for both the most serious and minor crimes must be seen to be punished, must not benefit from conditions which might appear to be equivalent or better than those outside. A golf course, a colour TV, a carpet on the common room floor, food which is palatable, nutritious and well prepared, all risk censure from public exposure. Prisoners must be seen to be less eligible, prison must be 'austere' and punitive as one British Home Secretary urged in the 1990's (Sparks, Bottoms, and Hay 1996) and Ontario's new prison regimes aspire to achieve.

The Greenlandic Penal Code of 1954 established the offender-- based principle that sanctions should not increase the likelihood of continued offending, and should attempt to rehabilitate rather than punish. Sanctions range from warnings and fines, through probation and hostel placement, to detention. Detention, however, takes place not in closed institutions, or even open prisons as in Denmark or Britain, but in night-time correctional institutions. In principle, after one week in closed conditions, everyone goes out during the day to work, returning in the evenings to eat, relax and sleep. Those who work contribute to their board and lodging. For prisoners unable to find work, hunting trips may be organized by staff.

For those of us who speak no Greenlandic or Danish, Helene Brochmann's book gives anglophones at least...