– It’s actually quite frightening, says Otto Pedersen. He is the general manager of the foundation Wayback in Kristiansand, which works for the return of inmates to society. They regularly visit the prisons in Agder, where they activate and have conversations with inmates. Two of them are the high-security prisons in Mandal and Froland. – Frustration that spreads They are considered to be Norway’s most modern and are built so that the inmates should live as much as possible like outside the walls. – There is no good atmosphere there now, as we experience it. There is, after all, a frustration that is spreading, and there are many who are locked up. The foundation believes that the bad mood is connected to the large budget cuts imposed on Agder prison. In 2023, Agder prison is required to reduce its budget by approx. NOK 35 million. Towards 2025, the prison must save a further NOK 65 million. – The consequences could be that we end up with a bunch of “ticking bombs”, says Pedersen. Agder prison Consists of wards in Mandal, Froland, Evje and Solholmen. The prison in Mandal has 100 prison places for men with a high security level. In Froland, there are 200 prison terms for men with a high security level. The prison in Froland has cost NOK 1.15 billion, the prison in Mandal NOK 726 million. The four departments have close to 400 employees. Source: Kriminalomsorgen.no Up to 20 hours in isolation Prison manager at Agder prison, Rolf Velle, says the cuts will mainly affect staffing. This will again go beyond what is offered to the inmates. – We will get more isolation, less community and less positive content. In the worst case scenario, it may very well be that we begin to approach 20 hours a day in a cell for some. Prison manager at Agder prison, Rolf Velle, fears budget cuts will have major consequences for both inmates and staff. Photo: Kjetil Samuelsen / news Otto Pedersen in Wayback struggled with drugs himself for 25 years, and was in and out of prison. In the end, she got sick from sitting in isolation. – You build up a lot of bitterness and hatred when you sit inside. You have a lot of emotions that you may not be able to process. Releasing people back into society after such a long, and perhaps severe, isolation is scary. The high-security prison in Mandal is one of Norway’s most modern. Here, it is planned that the inmates should live as much as possible like outside the walls. Photo: Statsbygg Criticism of isolation Norway has over several years received criticism for the use of isolation in prisons. Among others from the Norwegian Institution for Human Rights (NIM), the Civil Ombudsman and the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT). In its special report to the Storting on isolation in 2019, the civil ombudsman has documented serious challenges related to isolation in Norwegian prisons. Kristian Mjåland is an associate professor in sociology at the University of Agder (UiA), and works with prison research. He is worried about the consequences of the upcoming budget cuts. – If the newest prisons in Norway have to lock people longer in their cells because there are no budgets for staffing, then it is completely contrary to what the Storting wants the correctional service to do. And it is very serious. Kristian Mjåland is a prison researcher at the University of Agder. He believes it is impossible for a prison to cut 100 million without affecting staffing and inmates. Photo: Ina Marie Sigurdsen / news A paradox Almost NOK 2 billion was used to build the two high-security prisons in Mandal and Froland, which opened in 2020. The prisons were built with the aim that the inmates can get an education and get job training. There will probably be less of that in the years to come. – It is a huge paradox if it now turns out that there is no money to exploit the idea behind the entire prison. And that indicates very poor planning, says Mjåland. According to Mjåland, a good relationship between inmates and staff is absolutely crucial for how the sentence and rehabilitation turns out. – What we know from research is that a good relationship between staff and inmates is very important for the climate in a prison, and for integration into society after the end of the sentence. There may be less teaching and less work training in Agder prison in the future as a result of the budget cuts imposed on them. Photo: Benedicte Goa Ludvigsen / news Tough for the employees Pedersen in Wayback also points out that it is not only the inmates who will suffer from the large budget cuts. – I feel sorry for the employees who have to work under these difficult conditions. There are a lot of great prison officers, and now they too are in a way suffering. They are not allowed to do the job for which they are assigned. Regional Director of Correctional Services in the Southwest, Tanja Rosså Ødegård shares that concern. – A big concern for us is that we don’t get employees who want to work in correctional services, and that many employees quit, precisely because there is so much negative focus around finances. It can have long-term consequences. Tanja Rosså Ødegård is regional director of the Norwegian Correctional Service in the southwest. Photo: Odd Rune Kyllingstad / news The Ministry of Justice and Emergency Preparedness recognizes that the correctional service is in a demanding financial situation and takes the concerns of the employees seriously. In the proposal for a revised budget that was presented on 11 May, it is proposed to add an extra NOK 100 million to the correctional service. Pedersen in Wayback believes it is important to think that everyone who is in prison must return to society at one point or another. – And then the big question is: What do we release back into society? In any case, it is not rehabilitated inmates who get out… Inmates at the prison in Mandal may risk sitting in isolation for up to 20 hours a day in the years to come. Photo: Benedicte Goa Ludvigsen / news
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Fears a bunch of “ticking bombs” – news Sørlandet – Local news, TV and radio
