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Comparison of the Swedish Criminal Justice System to America’s

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Comparison of the Swedish Criminal Justice System to America’s

Introduction

     A competent criminal justice system should be legitimate and free. The many forms that are

taken by criminal justice systems are also useful in determining their effectiveness. An excellent

corrective justice system is where one is justly compensated, while distributive justice includes

allocating what is necessary to those who rightfully deserve it. This is closely linked to

retributive justice, a case for issuing what is earned. Restorative justice restores the rights of

citizens, and substantive justice is found when the concerned get the correct outcomes. Finally,

procedural justice includes using the proper channels to reach truth, legitimacy, and freedom.

Comparatively, the American justice system is more compromised than the Swedish one, and

several features can be borrowed from the latter to improve the latter and the lives of those who

it affects. 

     Whereas the USA experiences high and rising rates of imprisonment year after year and more

jails are open for business, those in Sweden continue to drop, and the jail houses are continually

closing down (Ward et al., 2012). The criminal justice system in the United States of America

does not effectively work, but that in Sweden and other Nordic countries does. "Therefore, it is

critical to explore the successful components of other European prison systems to establish

stronger and more effective programs in the US" (2012). 

The Failures in the USA

     The per capita imprisonment rate in the USA is as high as one for every hundred citizens

(DeRoche, 2012), and it also has a significant percentage of recidivism (Ward, 2012). The

system in America is widely considered to be a "monumental failure" that has proved incapable

to "keep communities safe, to respect and restore victims, and to return offenders who leave
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prison to be self-sufficient and law-abiding" (DeRoche, 2012). There are various indicators that

many researchers point to when justifying why the US criminal justice system does not deliver

on its mandate. 

    Other than the educational hindrances such as drop-out rates and employability in the USA,

the failures in justice delivery are attributed to far-reaching aspects. Firstly, and arguably most

importantly, the privatization of prisons and resultant profitability of the system makes it

challenging to make prisons corrective, rehabilitative, and academically enhancing centers. On a

micro-economic level, the prisons are profitable for individual and institutional investors.

Through economics and political influence, affluent individuals can own prisons in the USA,

which is in direct conflict with the goals of the justice system (Shultz, 2015, p. 93). When the

money being channeled into prisons stimulates the national economy and is substantial enough

for the lobbyists to channel it into politics, there will hardly be an incentive to rehabilitate,

educate and integrate prisoners into the community. Instead, there will be the capitalistic drive to

keep individuals behind bars for decades as retribution for offenses such as possession of few

ounces of marijuana, even in states where this is soon legalized. 

Successes of the Swedish Prison Systems

     The main aim of prisons in Sweden is to rehabilitate the inmates, which decreased the rates of

recidivism (Ward et al., 2012). Whereas in America, there is the motivation to build bigger

prisons with deplorable conditions to house ore inmates, in Sweden, smaller jails are made to

keep fewer detainees, for a shorter period. Moreover, rather than move inmates to remote parts of

the country, Nordic prisons are generally built to ensure occupants are closer to relatives.

Proximity, thereby, plays a critical role in rehabilitation and providing that people do not re-

offend or go back to jail. 

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     In Sweden, the offenders are first locked in closed prisons for most of their sentences before

they are later allowed to finish these out in open prisons. The first phase is essential for

correction, and the second helps in rehabilitation. Uniquely, the "attitudes of staff, especially

prison guards, are thought to directly influence the success of correctional rehabilitation

programs and the successful reintegration of prisoners after their release" (Ward et al., 2012).

This surprisingly competitive and desirable career attracts people from different ages, ethnicities,

and genders or sexual orientations, making life for inmates easier, and reintegration into society

more practical. With a clear division between the government and the administration of prisons,

there is very little political influence in the Swedish criminal justice systems. The line between

political economics and criminal justice is so clear that any politician who proposes aggressive

and punitive measures could lose their position for this (James, 2014). 

Direct Comparisons

     Policies. In America, the prison conditions are perceived as an additional punishment (Ward

et al., 2012). In Scandinavian countries like Sweden, the restriction in the prisons is enough

penalty, according to the head of the corrections department (James, 2014). The harsh conditions

in American prisons make them breeding grounds for dangerous gangs. As the leadership invests

in more bars, guards, and walls in America, the 'gentle justice' in Sweden cultivates law-abiding

citizens.

     Literacy and education. "Recidivism is heavily influenced by factors that exist outside of

prison, such as educational attainment" (Schultz, 2015, p. 10). Unfortunately, the public prisons

in America are unlikely to provide programs in socio-economic mobilization and academic

certification, yet private ones even less likely to do so. Such effectiveness promotes the inverse

relationship between re-incarceration and levels of education. In Scandinavian countries like

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Sweden, the training is voluntary for inmates, and they can even achieve post-graduate degrees

while behind bars. 

    Vocational programs. Although occupational programs in American jails are meant to

encourage societal reintegration, financial limits and trimmed budgets make this problematic.

Many offenders are excluded since the programs are only available in a few prisons, instead of

all of them. Additionally, the prejudice that exists towards ex-convicts makes it hard for them to

find legitimate jobs even when they are out of prison. In Sweden, not only are the programs

active and well-funded but also, the national attitude towards inmates is friendly. The

communities in this country are eager to receive their own and to create opportunities for them to

improve their lives. 

     Similarities. A more significant percentage of inmates in the USA and those in Sweden

similarly had substance abuse problems before they are imprisoned. Despite some non-

governmental and administrative interventions, this problem re-occurs in both countries for about

nine out of ten prisoners after their release. Equally, in both states, behavioral programs are part

of the rehabilitation of imprisoned offenders. However, in America, there are community

initiatives that are run by large non-governmental organizations and individuals with passion and

empathy. Most of these programs deal with therapeutic addressing of the inmates' problems and

challenges.

In contrast, in Sweden, these programs are administered by the government. In the same token as

drug abuse issues, behavioral issues are within the circle of concern of the justice systems and in

the circumference of control for the individual inmates. The initiatives in Sweden and Nordic

states include positive and negative reinforcements and punishments. Desired actions are
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rewarded using privileges and even money, which is quite unthinkable in America, but these are

the less weighty aspects of a successful versus a failing justice system. 

What the USA can learn from the Swedish Criminal Justice System and apply to theirs

     De-politicization. America should adopt the sentiment in Sweden that any politician who

proposes measures that would harm the justice system and those who go through it will soon be

jobless. The influences of politicians in the order must be reduced to create free, just, and

legitimate access to justice. However, the impact goes so high up that democratic presidential

aspirant, Joe Biden, has been "calling for more and longer sentences that have multiplied the

number of people incarcerated by 500 percent and disproportionately targeted poor urban people

of color" (Larson, 2019). Some criminologists agree that it is political willpower and not crime

that causes the rise of imprisonment rates.

     In Sweden, the regulations around the penal codes are designed by professionals, based on

research-based experience (Larson, 2019). After consulting with professors, philosophical

doctors, and other academic research authorities, Swedish criminologists and psychologists

independently influence policy in criminal justice. Although politicians are welcome to

contribute and receive need-to-know information from the professionals, their political influence

and general input are limited (James, 2014). 

     Unnecessary juries. Hour-long debates about the guilt or innocence of individuals by

elected, instead of trained and educated, courtroom participants are an unnecessary addition to

the American system. The juries are usually biased and accused of being so in the event where

there are unpopular decisions. Trials should be the preserve of lawyers, criminologists,

magistrates, prosecutors, and expert witnesses. The teachers and other irrelevant professional and

unprofessional contributors should be removed from the courthouses entirely. If this suggestion
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seems foreign, strange, or absurd, stakeholders should consider that the imprisonment rates in

America are tenfold those in Sweden (James, 2014).

      Staff-to-convict ratios. The prisoners in America disproportionally overwhelm the staff

members, including wardens and other professionals in numbers. This creates a strain on the

human resources that are assigned to keep the prisons running. Amid rival gangs, fewer guards

translate into more ambushes and fights. Many of these situations lead to deaths and maiming

injuries, where individuals are taken to seek rehabilitation. In Sweden, the ratio of inmates to the

staff members who serve them is closer to 2:1 (James, 2014). There are, therefore, more

individuals serving a single inmate at any time. The spectrum of workers in the penitentiary

systems and justice structures in Sweden. Thereby, the inmates are more secure and can access

more of what they need for rehabilitation in comparison to their counterparts in Nordic states. 

Conclusion

     In general, Sweden has done with its justice system what America will not even be considered

in America (Aleem, 2015). The Nordic criminal system is built to rehabilitate and re-integrate

inmates into society. The investment that is made in the procedures in courts and the

punishments that are issued are not meant to cause suffering to any minority groups. More

importantly, the prosecution process does not include non-professionals in the form of a jury. On

a humanitarian level, it is not profitable to run a prison in Sweden, but it is a billion-dollar

industry in the USA. In contrast, the American system focuses more on punishment than on

correction, involves juries that are a loop-hole to finding justice, and is guilty of bias against

some communities. 
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    The USA can borrow a leaf from the justice system in Sweden to reduce its share of global

inmates. Currently, at about 25%, this is a very significant portion of the population that would

be more productive with freedom compared to when they are in captivity. 

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References

Aleem, Z. (2015, January 27). Sweden's Remarkable Prison System Has Done What the U.S.

Won't Even Consider. Mic.com. https://www.mic.com/articles/109138/sweden-has-done-

for-its-prisoners-what-the-u-s-won-t

DeRoche, C. (2012, March 12). A Failing Criminal Justice System. The New York Times.

https://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2012/03/12/young-black-and-male-in-

america/a-failing-criminal-justice-system

James, E. (2014, November 26). Prison is not for punishment in Sweden. We get people into

better shape. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/nov/26/prison-

sweden-not-punishment-nils-oberg

Larson, D. (2019, July 30). The A$AP Rocky case shows why we should be inspired and

troubled by Sweden’s justice system. The Washington Post.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/07/30/asap-rocky-case-shows-why-we-

should-be-inspired-troubled-by-swedens-justice-system/

Schultz, C. (2015). Prison Privatization: Driving Influences and Performance Evaluation.

Themis: Research Journal of Justice Studies and Forensic Science, 3 (5), 92-113.

Ward, K., Longaker, J. A., Williams, J., Nayer, A., Rose, A. C. & Simpson, C. G. (2012,

November 7). Incarceration within American and Nordic Prisons: Comparison of

National and International Policies. Engage: The International Journal of Research and

Practice in Student Engagement. http://www.dropoutprevention.org/engage-

backup/incarceration- within-american-and-nordic-prisons/#1pred