Comparing deep-end confinement in England & Wales and Norway


Type
Article
Change log
Authors
Laursen, Julie 
Mjaland, Kristian 
Abstract

Extreme forms of custody represent the boundary-points of state power. The configuration of the most restrictive corners of prison systems, and what goes on within them, is highly instructive in exposing the objectives, limits and implications of state coercion at its most severe. Based on data collected in England & Wales and Norway, this article has two main aims. The first is to explore the degree to which ‘deep-end’ confinement differs between jurisdictions with quite different penal philosophies. The second is to understand how the most extreme form of confinement in each jurisdiction differs from the more typical carceral experiences within each system and its overall penal ethos. Empirically, then, the article seeks to shine light into the deepest dominions of both prison systems, illuminating the experiential texture of extreme forms of imprisonment. It concludes by asking what can be inferred about Nordic exceptionalism, and about deep-end confinement more generally, through analysing these domains.

Description
Keywords
comparative penology, depth of imprisonment, extreme custody, imprisonment, "tightness"
Journal Title
CRIMINOLOGY
Conference Name
Journal ISSN
0011-1384
1745-9125
Volume Title
Publisher
Wiley
Sponsorship
European Research Council (648691)
European Research Council grant 648691