Criminal Penalty - a Form of
Exclusion and Marginalization
Tuuli StewartEstonia
Baltic felons in Nordic prisons
Tuul i Stewart
Vi ln ius 2013
Tuul i Stewart
Vi ln ius 2013
MY STUDY IS ORIENTED ON the question, how to re-integrate today’s prisoners (criminal offenders)
back to society through entrepreneurialism how to find and define the ones who are suitable for possible courses,
developmental plan, entrepreneurial activity comparison of our philosophy with Scandinavian model – are there cultural
differences that matter
I ARGUE THAT Entrepreneurial activity might be a solution for people, who’s
opportunities to be employed legally are limited Legal occupation and self-driven income is a cornerstone for societal
integration for immigrants as well as for those, who have been relegated from the same society
It is a mindset that needs to be encouraged for alternatives after release. For all participating parties – the offender, lawmakers and society
Tuul i Stewart
Vi ln ius 2013
Tuul i Stewart
Vi ln ius 2013
IS IT A PROBLEM?
The felons are minority in society who’s number is increasing. Integration capability of those aliens defines the society’s own well-being through numerous channels Our reforms have decreased the number of prisoners, and that’s adorable but the
number of people, who hold criminal records is increasing in society
Is the problem increasing?
Illustration: Baltics had more people on 2010 as in previous years in prisons than in the
army forces; The amount of people with criminal record is abnormal; The cost for society rises both as fiscal cost and as social effect.
Since those numbers mostly reflect young men, their fate is related to children, workforce and health of the society in general
Tuul i Stewart
Vi ln ius 2013
Tuul i Stewart
Vi ln ius 2013
LET’S TALK?
1. Statistics with an
emphasis on Baltic migrants
in Nordic countries (prisons)
2. What happened?
Political /social and other consequences
how these men ended up in this situation
(being prisoners, being excluded from society)
3. Who are they?
Social and demographic
characteristics of prison-migrants
4. What can we do?
What are the challenges (ways)
to reintegrate them into society
I was proposed to open a discussion on the following topics:
Unfortunately, I can here only briefly focus on the 1st one, but the others are very important in order to understand the cause effect chain. Perhaps next time…
Tuul i Stewart
Vi ln ius 2013
Tuul i Stewart
Vi ln ius 2013
BALTICS ARE NOT PART OF EUROPE. YET RETURN / recidivism in Baltic states:
30% - 2 years 60% - 5 years 90% - 10 years
Could we hope to be a part of the Nordic area some day?
Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia are still countries of long-term mass incarceration
Tuul i Stewart
Vi ln ius 2013
1. What is the connection between Baltics and Scandinavia through prisons?
2. Are we interested in those people in our prisons?
THIS IS NOT A MAP OF BAD PEOPLE vs GOOD PEOPLE IN EUROPE.
THIS IS A MAP OF STATE POLICIES AND COMMUNAL ACCEPTANCE
Tuul i Stewart
Vi ln ius 2013
Tuul i Stewart
Vi ln ius 2013
Rate of captives in Europe
per 100 000 persons of population
Geographical location and
traditions in connections fill
thrivingly Scandinavian
prisons with foreigners.
In the last 40 years the
number of their local
captives hasn’t risen.
Rehabilitation and after care
programs used in those
prisons, however, are
designed for integration into
local society, ran in local
language and are based on
local culture and mentality.
Tuul i Stewart
Vi ln ius 2013
Tuul i Stewart
Vi ln ius 2013
SOLUTIONS?
MISSION IMPOSSIBLE?
From 2013 Norway has the first prison opened separately for foreigners.
Read more:• Norway needs separate jails f
or foreigners• Separate prisons for foreign
prisoners
Work in Norwegian prisons with Eastern European felons 2012 proved – success in communication largely depends
on cultural understanding. Eastern Europeans are not al the same but they definitely
are not same with Scandinavians.
Scandinavia has the best prisons for locals but need assistance of the specialists and researchers from the same culture as captives
Tuul i Stewart
Vi ln ius 2013
Tuul i Stewart
Vi ln ius 2013
ENTRIES AND YEARLY AVERAGES OF FOREIGN CITIZENS IN NORDIC PRISONS IN 2005 – 2009
Thanks: Ragnar Kristoffersen The IRCE research task force
*Notice the differences on levels and dynamics
Tuul i Stewart
Vi ln ius 2013
Tuul i Stewart
Vi ln ius 2013Thanks: IRCE research task force
Those two charts are filled with many questions and some answers to policies that might work. Further study is following in cooperation with Nordic colleagues
*Notice the differences on levels and dynamics
Tuul i Stewart
Vi ln ius 2013
Tuul i Stewart
Vi ln ius 2013
FOREIGN CITIZENS CONSTITUTE A TOTAL OF 23 % OF ALL INMATES
Tuul i Stewart
Vi ln ius 2013
Tuul i Stewart
Vi ln ius 2013
WHO ARE THOSE FOREIGNERS?
Thanks: Ragnar Kristoffersen The IRCE research task force
Tuul i Stewart
Vi ln ius 2013
Tuul i Stewart
Vi ln ius 2013
DATA SHOWS THAT AVERAGE SENTENCE LENGTH FOR SENTENCED FOREIGN INMATES IS HIGHER THAN FOR OTHER INMATES IN PRISONS IN THE REPORTING COUNTRIES
Tuul i Stewart
Vi ln ius 2013
Tuul i Stewart
Vi ln ius 2013
THERE IS MAJOR DIFFERENCE BETWEEN BALTIC PRISONERS IN BALTIC PRISONS AND THOSE IN SCANDINAVIAN PRISONS!COMMON PROBLEMS IN LITHUANIAN AND LATVIAN PRISONS:
• Undereducated / under 4th or 9th grade
• Tuberculosis, HIV / Aids
• Gray prisoners – over 60 years old
• Chronic health problems due to conditions
• Certain types of crime – child molesters, wife beaters etc.
• Addictions / alcohol and drugs
COMMON PROBLEMS AMONG BALTIC PRISONERS IN NORDIC PRISONS:
• Language barriers, incl access to programs
• Absence of the family and communication
• Cultural interpretation
!
Tuul i Stewart
Vi ln ius 2013
Tuul i Stewart
Vi ln ius 2013
ROBIN HOODS?
Many male prisoners from Lithuania and Latvia in Scandinavian prisons are well educated first-times in their prime years, who have young families and quite realistic plans for future compared to the average among prisoners in their home countries
This is a well-needed potential in Lithuania and Latvia. Most of them do want to go home, not to stay in Norway or Sweden. Most of them do want to study and find a legal alternative.
Estonia and Finland as a destination are different because Estonians are commuters
Vilnius prison -- Lukiškių tardymo izoliatorius kalėjimas.Built 1904, active in 2013
Tuul i Stewart
Vi ln ius 2013
Tuul i Stewart
Vi ln ius 2013
WHERE IS THE CRIME? Big difference – drug related
crime does not necessarily
equal drug user.
Tuul i Stewart
Vi ln ius 2013
Tuul i Stewart
Vi ln ius 2013
IMPRISONMENT IS A JOB ECONOMY.BUT ONLY FOR THOSE WHO HAVEN’T SLIPPED?
WHAT WORKS?
(re)integration of prisoners into society means:
1. Integration from a long term damaging exile
2. In many cases into a new culture, unknown
previously
So, in terms, it is a migration case
You are welcome to ask about the following approaches and programs
Tuul i Stewart
Vi ln ius 2013
Tuul i Stewart
Vi ln ius 2013
Whatever program is good
Nothing works
WHAT WORKS IN SOCIALIZATION?
In 1974 D. Lipton, R. Martinson and J. Wilks, using ‘meta-analysis’, assessed all the evaluations of criminal rehabilitation programs between 1945 and 1967.
They reached the following conclusion:
‘With few and isolated exceptions, the rehabilitative efforts that have been reported so far have had no appreciable effect on recidivism’.
The results of this assessment convinced them that not much seems to work and one program did not seem more effective than another.
Tuul i Stewart
Vi ln ius 2013
Tuul i Stewart
Vi ln ius 2013
SO WHY BOTHER?
1. ?
2. ?
3. These people have damaged others AND (have been damaged)
THEMSELVES. More damage during imprisonment should
not deepen this process.
Bernard Shaw: black plus black does not add up as white
What’s „socializing“?
-- Mix socially with others.-- Make (someone) behave in
a way that is acceptable to their society
Socialization is a concept concerning the “study of the developmental processes by which people acquire cognition, attitudes, and
behaviors”
Changing Lenses
HOWARD ZEHR
I have been involved in photography for many years. One of the lessons I have learned is how profoundly the lens I look through affects the outcome.
My choice of lens determines in what circumstances I can work and how I see.
Tuuli StewartVilnius 2013
Tuul i Stewart
Vi ln ius 2013
Tuul i Stewart
Vi ln ius 2013
We will have to look to alternative ways of viewing both problem and solution.
The source of many of our failures,
I am arguing, lies in the lens through
which we view crime and justice,
and that lens is a particular construction
of reality, a paradigm.
It is not the only possible paradigm.
Tuul i Stewart
Vi ln ius 2013
• Are those prisoners different people? Domestic
Migrants
• Are they different from other migrants? In which way?
• Are they migrants?
• Motivation for crime-free lifestyle.
• Motivational interviewing and pro-social modeling as a way for learning.
• Practical help and information.
• Breaking exclusion, building trust and inclusion.
• No, this is not a guaranteed road that works on all but is it worth a try?
PREPARATION FOR THE NEW ENTRY INTO SOCIETY
Tuul i Stewart
Vi ln ius 2013
Tuul i Stewart
Vi ln ius 2013
PrisonerLearn-acy
PublicTrust
Motive?Respect
Legal AdministrationConsistency
Learnacy - ability to learn new
information and skills
Tuul i Stewart
Vi ln ius 2013
Tuul i Stewart
Vi ln ius 2013
Learn- ACY
SkillsSocial,
practical
KnowledgeHow does it
work?
„Language“Terminology
to operate
Values, normsReligion
Plan BGAMES, STORIES, PRACTICE
What is my next move, if this
doesn’t work?
Tuul i Stewart
Vi ln ius 2013
Tuul i Stewart
Vi ln ius 2013
A game = an ideal world with rules (for all)
Reality games – rules differ (change the chairs with a blind, tied up etc. )Obstacles in life – are there rules?Confusion in relationships – expectations for rules
- - - - - - - - - - Picturing, story telling, reading, writing A plant, the wheel of life etc Role play – write your script, a letter to yourself Movies –> community & court vs you
What works?
CHANGING CHAIRS
Conflict analyze course for inmates
Tuuli Stewart
Tuul i Stewart
Vi ln ius 2013
Tuul i Stewart
Vi ln ius 2013
2. WE ANALYZE A MOVIE
One of those:
Or pick your own…
Tuul i Stewart
Vi ln ius 2013
Tuul i Stewart
Vi ln ius 2013
ISSUES
PERSONALITIES
EMOTIONS
INTERESTS, NEEDS, AND DESIRES
SELF-PERCEPTIONS AND SELF-ESTEEM
HIDDEN EXPECTATIONS
UNRESOLVED ISSUES FROM THE PAST
CONFLICTS ARE COMPLEX ISSUES OF MANY LAYERS
“an iceberg of conflict” – we may take just one conflict situation from a movie (or reading) and discuss it in those layers/
Do we find similar conflict layers around us?
*I do avoid bringing personal examples, I do not want to know personal stories, we do not discuss each other's cases – we just “play”
Just the tip of the iceberg
Tuul i Stewart
Vi ln ius 2013
Tuul i Stewart
Vi ln ius 2013
THE COURSE
The course is aimed to three main directions:
1. To see, what others see in us
2. To adapt our behavior, to adjust expectations, to learn the “language”
3. In order to see the point of the conflict
The groups could be from 1-2 people up to 12 people, depending on circumstances.
The course could take up to 5-6 meetings.
At the end, we watch the movie again. Not the same one and hopefully, not with the same eyes, as in the beginning.
Tuul i Stewart
Vi ln ius 2013
Tuul i Stewart
Vi ln ius 2013
THE WHEEL OF LIFE
Tuul i Stewart
Vi ln ius 2013
Tuul i Stewart
Vi ln ius 2013
Ou
ter w
orld
CHANGE - IT’S A CIRCLE, NOT A STRAIGHT LINE
DONATION PROJECT
Example:
Elevator program in
FreTex Norway
against poverty and
for Green Earth everywhere
The program is creating JOBs for immigrants and newly released from prisons
Tuul i Stewart
Vi ln ius 2013
Tuul i Stewart
Vi ln ius 2013
WHAT DO WE HAVE?
lots of clothing (tons) in Oslo, big part of which have never been used
Need of practical help with clothing in other countries Our wish to form a better practical aid-network with other
countries A wish to integrate migrants and prisoners through legal
networks and occupation
Tuul i Stewart
Vi ln ius 2013
Tuul i Stewart
Vi ln ius 2013
WHAT DOES IT MEAN? A receiving country would create a project where released
offenders can be occupied
The project is SELLING donated clothes and this money is giving salary / coverage to released persons for a new start
Housing
Food
Transportation
Consultation
Etc…
DIGNITY! – slogan from Scandinavian prisons: all we take away is freedom
Tuul i Stewart
Vi ln ius 2013
Tuul i Stewart
Vi ln ius 2013
Could those games work on governments and public of
Baltic states?
Learn to ask for a missing piece