PUNISHMENT / PRISONS

(HUKUMAN / PENJARA)
Punishment or prisons is place for people who are guilty violate a prescribed law. Both
within stae, government, and countryside. In every country must have rules to be obeyed by any
society or residents who reside in the country, wether the city. A punishment or a relugation is
not to curb or judge a cruel, cruel society but for security, and other in country.

Our role is not to punish. The punishment is the prison sentence: they have been deprived
of their freedom. The punishment is that they are with us, says nils Oberg, director-general of
swedens prison and probatin service. Oberg, 54, is giving the annual longford lecture on penal
reform in London tomorrow, where he will explain how, in strak constract to the UK, Sweden is
closing prisons ad reducing the prison population.

Since 2004, Swedish prisoner numbers have fallen from 5,722 to 500 out of a pulation of
9,5 milion, and last year four of the countrys 56 prisons were closed and parts of other jails
mothballed. In contrast, the prison population in England and wales is 85,000 out of a population
of 57 million. Whith reoffending rates at about 40% - less than half of those in the UK and most
other European countries does he attribute this success to the countrys effective policies on
prisoner rehabilitation ?

we obviously belive that it is part of the explanation; we hope we are doing something
right. But its going to be very difficult to prove that scientifically. We are increasing our efforts
all the time, he says. Lest year a national client survey of several thousand Swedish prisoners
was undertaken in order to identify the issues that have affected their criminal behaviour. The
survey did not bring up any suprises.