Penitentiary System Vs Sweden Government

Penitentiary System
The United States and Sweden have astounding similarities despite the great barriers of water that separate the two countries. While the United States government is a Federal Republic and the Sweden government is a constitutional monarchy, they both have a very large legislature. The American legislature holds 534 members and the Sweden legislature holds 388, with both holding executive elections every four years (“Compare,” 1). Both countries are also members of the United Nations and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). These memberships are proof of these countries willingness and desire for cooperation and interconnectedness along with their purpose of promoting economic prosperity and infrastructure.
The gross domestic product (GDP), which measures the values of services and finalized goods produced within a country, are high and constant in both regions. Sweden and the United States are both in the top 10th percentile for GDP per capita in the world, which is a huge accomplishment and precludes to the fact that they are economically productive (“Compare,” 1). Their high economic productivity has also led to a higher standard of living than other countries around the world.
In addition, they each have impeccable gross national income per capita with the United States having a GNI of $55,980 and Sweden having a GNI of $57,920 (“Compare,” 1). These high measurements represent these countries net incomes from foreign productions. With the United States GDP being __ and Sweden’s being __ it can be concluded that the majority of their investments take place abroad in foreign countries (“Compare,” 1). The United States and Sweden are each ranked high up on the Economic Complexity Index (ECI), with Sweden ranking 4th and the United States one place behind in 5th (“Compare,” 1). This measurement is used to analyze a country’s economic system in a holistic way rather than using the sum of its parts. These countries generate various products of complexity with a wide range of uses, beneficiaries, and diversity. These two countries produce these goods in high numbers thereby stimulating the economy and promoting economic growth. Life expectancy is also similar and projected to be long in both countries with an expected 79 years in America and 82 years in Sweden (“Compare,” 1). The Supreme Court in both of these countries also has the greatest power in interpreting the
law and the constitution. The United States and Sweden are two highly successful, economically stable, globalized, and powerful countries and it is likely that these key similarities have played a role in their overall accomplishments.
The United States and Sweden have overwhelming similarities, and yet their penitentiary systems could not be more distinct.
A penitentiary system is necessary to house convicted criminals. The United States penitentiary system currently suffers from mass incarceration, with the highest incarceration rate in the world, having more 2 million people incarcerated and thereby making up almost 22% of the entire worlds prison population (“Mass Incarceration in the USA,” 1). Sweden, on the other hand, has a prison population of 5,245 (Öberg, 1). A country’s overall population certainly is a key factor in the previous numbers stated, yet, if you look at the incarceration rate per 100,000 people, the number incarcerated in the United States is 666 and 53 in Sweden. This is a huge difference, one that demands answers. The United States is often depicted as encompassing a prison system that preys on minorities and the mental ill, resulting in overcrowded prisons with high rates of recidivism. These conditions can easily foster unfit treatment and abuse with an emphasis on punishment as a form of correction as opposed to a focus on rehabilitation. Sweden, on the other hand, has emphasized their support behind rehabilitation in the prison system, resulting in lowered crime and incarceration rates for its citizens. Sweden’s number of inmates is steadily continuing to drop as the United States simultaneously rises. These outcomes highlight a core difference in the prison institutions in
these countries.
The penitentiary system in Sweden may be at odds with individual’s current conception of prisons. In Sweden, it is highly unlikely to be placed in prison if you are under 21, especially if you are under 18. In this country, you are responsible your crimes after you turn 15, yet until you are 18 you receive special considerations in regards to your sanctioning. An offender who is under 21 is only sentenced to prison if there are special grounds concerning their crime (Winslow, 3). When placed in a prison system, official’s goals are to place individuals in the least restrictive environment possible for the offender. They emphasize humane treatment and despite being a convicted criminal, individuals retain their civil rights. This includes voting in elections and being eligible for welfare.
Sweden has two types of correctional facilities, opened and closed. The security of open prison systems is minimal with the prisons lacking bars, fences, and other restraints. Prisoners are not confined to cells and are allowed to roam freely. They are occasionally even allowed to leave the premise. In addition, each prisoner receives their own space, as a lack of overcrowding is imperative to their system; privacy is a key factor within these institutions. Prisoners are also allowed their own access to their rooms with their own key and visitations without the restriction of handcuffs, or glass windows. In open institutions, guests are allowed access to an inmate’s own quarters. Closed prisons, while they do have extra security, are still extremely comfortable for prisoners. There are canteens and lounges for prisoners to enjoy reducing feelings of loneliness. Accommodations are also made so that children and partners can stay, unsupervised for weekends. The goal of this is to promote and maintain relations, which reduces tension in the prison and can also relate to lower reports of rape and sexual assault during prison. Guards are not armed; in fact they carry no weapons. The use of small prisons in Sweden is abundant with about 86 of them, with the largest prison holding 350 inmates (Pratt, 2017). This accentuates their goal of normalizing the situation by allowing prisoners to stay fairly close to their previous living arrangements. There is also a huge lack or privatization as the state is in charge of all prisons. While security is a prime focus, the goal is not to rip prisoners of their dignity.
The Prison Treatment Act of 1974 in Sweden helps protect the rights of prisoners. A stated in Chapter 1, Section 4 of General Provisions, “Prison treatment shall be so devised as to promote the prisoner’s adjustment in society and counteract the detrimental consequences of deprivation of liberty” (Gregow, 3). The officials of these systems recognize the damage that solitary confinement and lack of social interaction can have on an individual’s consciousness and adjust their institution so as to meet prisoner’s needs. One way that these institutions give in to these needs is in their provision of education, work, and vocational training. Prisoners are typically willing, if not eager, to participate in occupational activities as they make the time more manageable.
America’s prison system is the largest in the world. There are 4,575 institutions established in the United States (Samuels Jr., 1). These institutions vary in sizes some holding thousands of prisoners. The age of criminal responsibility varies by state in America, with some states having no minimum age requirement. Individuals convicted of a crime that are over 18 are tried as an adult, while those younger than 18 are tried as minors, except under special circumstances where extreme acts against the law can cause a minor to be tried as an adult. The state in which a criminal commits a crime can also affect the rights one loses, but generally convicted felons in America lose various civil rights. Convicted felons lose the right to vote in elections, travel abroad, welfare benefits, parental rights, and the right to bear arms. Finding employment can also be difficult depending on the field of interest due to requirement by law to acknowledge on applications that you have a history as a convicted felon. The United States justice system does not just have power over a criminal’s physical security but also their liberties as American citizens.