Dignified Detainment: Comparing the Prison Systems of Denmark and the United States

The structure of Denmark’s prison system is unique. The country prioritizes the humane treatment of their prisoners and its methodology seems to be paying off. The United States’ prison system, on the other hand, bears little resemblance to Denmark’s. The U.S. boasts the world’s largest prison population and concerningly high rates of recidivism. The key distinction between the two systems is that Danish prisons attempt to solve the core issues that lead an individual to commit a crime, while criminal justice in the United States is more concerned with punishing the crime itself.

Mutual Trust

In Denmark, the government uses “open prisons” which lack secure perimeters and  engage in minimal supervision of inmates. Prison officials in these facilities accept that inmates may escape. The logic behind Denmark’s lax oversight is that a prisoner escaping is less dangerous to other inmates and prison staff than an attempted breakout. Furthermore, there is a reasonable assumption on the part of Danish prison officials that drug smuggling, escape attempts, and fights will inevitably occur. Even so, prison officials do not search prisoners as the system tries to prioritize the preservation of prisoners’ dignity over the implementation of stricter drug enforcement policies. 

By acknowledging that prisoners will inevitably break rules and choosing not to enforce stringent policies, the Danish prison system actually prevents violence. Serious violence is quite rare in Danish prisons compared to other countries. Prison officials in Denmark believe that this is because inmates are treated humanely, causing them to act out less. In Danish open prisons, inmates are permitted to leave during the day to visit family, work, or go to school as long as they return by a strict curfew. As an inmate, if you don’t respect the rules, such as failing to return before curfew, you may be moved to a closed prison for more serious offenders. Inmates in open prisons are still allowed to wear their own clothes, cook their own meals, and aren’t locked in cells. Such policies reflect the primary concern of the Danish prison system—treating inmates humanely and with dignity. In Denmark, the prison system centers on rehabilitation and normalization, rather than punishment and deterrence. This certainly contributes to the Danish prison system’s low recidivism rate, at around 27%. There is also a stark difference between the rate of recidivism in open and closed prisons, with closed prisons hovering around 40% while open prisons maintain a recidivism rate of approximately 19%. The differences in recidivism between open and closed prisons implies that when prisoners are treated with dignity and respect, they are better prepared to be reintegrated into society. 

Resentment and Recidivism

Comparing the Danish prison system to that of the United States helps to highlight the benefits of open prison policies. Take the prison populations of the two countries: Denmark has approximately 73 prisoners for every 100,000 residents, while the United States has about ten times that amount at 730 prisoners per 100,000 residents. This makes for a U.S. inmate population of 2.3 million and is combined with a staggering recidivism rate of 76.6% compared to that of Denmark. This means that more than three-fourths of released inmates in the U.S. are re-arrested within 5 years. 

This is due, in part, to American prisons offering harsher conditions for inmates, leading to widespread resentment of the prison system. Moreover, these conditions make it hard for inmates to reintegrate into society successfully. In the U.S., small-time offenders may be given unreasonably long sentences and are often still forced to endure the same brutal conditions as more serious offenders. These inmates are forced to live in cramped prison cells, with poor air quality and little natural light. Additionally, the poor quality of food and insufficient provision of healthcare in American prisons is often criticized. Conversely, the Danish system relies on handing out short sentences and treating their inmates well, ultimately resulting in better outcomes for ex-offenders.

Approximately 60% of inmates in Denmark are in an open prison. Even those who have committed serious offenses may eventually be moved into an open prison. Closed prisons are typically reserved for psychopaths, terrorists, or those who have previously attempted to escape. In Denmark, the average prison sentence is six months, and only about two percent of sentences are over two years. Additionally, more than half of prison sentences are actually three months or less. Conversely, in the United States, the average prison sentence is far longer. Lighter sentencing in combination with more lenient prison policies are two of the main factors contributing to the difference in the recidivism rate between Denmark and the United States. Moreover, by granting prisoners the freedom to leave during the day, Danish inmates are better prepared to reenter society, as opposed to many American inmates who are required to stay within prison walls for their entire sentence. The Danish system focuses on the notion of “normalization,” whereby designing the environment of open prisons to closely resemble that of the outside world helps ex-offenders reintegrate once their sentence is complete. While the Danish prison system revolves around rehabilitation, the U.S. prison system is geared towards retribution. Studies have shown that around the world, retributive criminal justice systems foster a divide between prisoners and the rest of society, alienating offenders and encouraging future criminality, thus leading to higher rates of recidivism. 

Social Differences

When comparing disparate prison systems in countries such as Denmark and the United States, it’s important to acknowledge other social, economic, and demographic factors that contribute to differing outcomes for prisoners. Aside from the obvious size differences, Danes live in a country with very low levels of poverty and income inequality and which is supported by a large social safety net. In addition, there is virtually no access to guns for private citizens in Denmark. The United States can be considered the opposite in that regard, with much higher levels of economic inequality as well as greater access to firearms. It may be difficult to determine empirically how much these individual factors contribute to the difference in re-incarceration rates between the two countries, but it is plausible that they play a role. 

One issue regarding the prison system that both the United States and Denmark struggle with relates to the disproportionate representation of minorities in the prison population. In Denmark, 40% of prisoners are not ethnically Danish which is almost four times the percentage of non-Danes in the general population. Similarly, in the U.S., both African-American and Hispanic individuals are incarcerated at a much higher rate than their white counterparts. While the U.S. and Danish prison systems differ in many respects, both countries have a problem with excessive minority incarceration which can be partially attributed to prejudicial policing practices.

The Danish prison system seems not only to benefit the inmates, but also the prison officials. Each prisoner has a “contact officer” that helps facilitate their progress towards reintegration into the outside world. This practice helps officers by avoiding the psychological damage that can be imposed by performing purely punitive functions. American correction officers don’t have this luxury, and as a result, they often suffer from stress, hypertension, alcoholism, and even suicide. These occupational hazards are a leading reason why American prison officials have an average life expectancy of only 59 years. 

In Closing

By engaging in a critical comparison of the Danish prison system with that of the United States, one can see the benefits of a prison system rooted in rehabilitating prisoners by treating them with dignity, encouraging mutual trust, and smoothing reentry into society. The humane treatment of Danish inmates gives them agency, allowing them to be contributing members of society both during their sentences and after. Be that as it may, it’s still up for debate whether or not the low re-incarceration rates in the Danish prison system are directly caused by Danish policies or underlying characteristics of the Danish population. Regardless, the U.S. prison system could certainly stand to benefit from adopting some elements of Danish prisons.