-Here at Oslo Prison, we have been in the business of effectuating punishments for more than 150 years. Prison and the administration of sentences is an area that governments and authorities across the world experience to be a difficult challenge. More and more people are imprisoned, and more and more prisons are built to accommodate them. But still no one knows for sure how prisons should really function in order to rehabilitate the inmates.
These were the opening words of Prison Director, Øyvind Alnæs, at the arrangement held in Oslo Prison, where the new parliamentary white paper on prison welfare and probation was presented last Friday.
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Text and photo: Knut-Erik Rønningen, published 29.09.08.
-For those of us working with prison welfare and probation this is an immensely important and exciting day. This white paper is a document where politicians point out the direction for how our services and activities shall be for future decades. We are now excited and full of expectations, concluded Oslo Prison Director, Øyvind Alnes, in his opening speech.
A Better Life
Norway’s Minister of Justice, Knut Storberget, opened proceedings by thanking everyone that had contributed to drafting the white paper, and then continued: -Norwegian prison welfare and probation will, in the future, be formed such as to take note of the fact that people have to cope after being released and be able to independently run their own households. Therefore, it is my wish that during the next five to ten years we will see a huge effort to create a better life for the people concerned, not least through achieving that win-win situation we all get when we manage to reduce the rate of re-offending.
-We want to move the penological focus from how long people must be imprisoned to what one actually experiences while one is imprisoned, concluded Kunt Storberget, before handing the microphone to colleagues present from the government.
Solid Foundation
Probably for the first time in history, there were four government ministers in attendance at the same time within the walls of Oslo Prison. Tora Aasland, from the Ministry of Education and Research, spoke of education in prisons. Magnhild Meltveit Kleppa, from the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development, spoke of the importance of having your own accommodation after release.
Trond Giske, from the Ministry of Cultural and Church Affairs, concluded by thanking Knut Storberget for involving the other departments so significantly. –If we don’t succeed in planting this message in all o fus that have to contribute to this important work, then we will not succeed in reaching our goal. We now have an increased understanding of how we can help you to make your job as superfluous as possible, commented Trond Giske. His own department is responsible for all the voluntary organizations that contribute so much through working with inmates, both before and after release.
Completely silent
Whether Director Alnæs’ expectations are fulfilled, is another matter, but many of the prison employees present were surprised by the almost complete silence with which the new white paper has been met in the press and media so far. Perhaps this was because all the good cards had been played up front? We hope nevertheless that during the period ahead there will be an active public debate around future criminal policy, which will stretch far longer than the length of sentences.
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Movie Maker, Margrete Ohlin, opened Fin Serck-Hansen’s photo
exhibition and awarded flowers to two of the portrait subjects.
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