Criminology and Criminal Justice in Scandinavia

Fall & Spring | 3 credits | Elective
Majors: Criminology/Criminal Justice, Legal Studies, Public Policy, and Sociology

‘Open prison’ - does that sound like a contradiction in terms? In Denmark, open prisons are a cornerstone of the prison system and ‘normalizing’ prison conditions is preferred for the Danish social context. In this course, you will study crime, crime patterns, basic criminological theory, and criminal justice administration in Scandinavia. Objectives are strengthening students’ analytical skills and enabling students to evaluate criminal justice policy making from different perspectives.

Syllabi

View syllabus

Field Studies

Danish Open Prison

You will take a tour of an open prison – the kind of facility that most prisoners go to in Denmark. A prison guard will take you through the prison and you will talk to her / him and a current prisoner.

Café Exit

This field study starts with a walk through the Vesterbro neighborhood in Copenhagen. While having a coffee at Café Exit - a project and coffee shop working to help prisoners and ex-prisoners become reintegrated into the Danish society - you will learn about the challenges and triumphs that an ex-prisoner faces upon entering society again.

Instructors

• 
  Anne Okkels Birk

  Diploma in Criminology (University of Copenhagen, 2007). Cand.scient.pol. (Political Science, University of Aarhus, 1997). Head of Section, Danish Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries, 1997-2000. Chief Advisor/Head of Section, Danish Prison and Probation Service, 2001-2006. Independent consultant since January 2007. With DIS since 2008.