Denmark

Photos here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1h4PWqwDqd_hdO0BzQnvitWqGm4p9re7L

Tourism

I stayed in the countryside in Køge, about 40 minutes out of Copenhagen, with some very dear friends. It was beautiful to wake up to snow drops and horses in the field outside my window, then go into Copenhagen or other local places for meetings and sightseeing each day. I saw the Viking exhibit at the National Museum, walked through the city and visited the free city of Christiania. Copenhagen is a fabulous city and I hope this won’t be my last time here.

Gangs in Denmark

The people I spoke to in Denmark referred to two types of gangs, outlaw motorcycle clubs and street gangs. I was told that 30 years ago there were mainly just two motorcycle clubs – the Hells Angels and Bandidos. Following the Nordic biker war in the mid-90s, there was a massive police effort to reduce crime involving these groups, which did reduce the size of the two clubs but had the unintended consequence of making room for smaller gangs to emerge. Many street gangs, which start as groups of friends with localised criminal activity targeted primarily at opposing gangs, turn into organised crime networks as they move into the drug market, challenging the outlaw motorcycle clubs that previously ran the drug trade.

Street gangs are often linked to minority cultural groups, largely Danish immigrants. I spoke to a man in prison who had been born in Denmark, but his parents had immigrated from Lebanon. He has been in prison for 16 years, almost half his life, and he had started a street gang with some of his childhood friends as a teenager. He told me about his upbringing in an udsatte boligområder, which translates to 'vulnerable neighbourhood' but everyone I met referred to as a ‘ghetto’ area of Copenhagen. These areas are designated as vulnerable neighbourhoods by government due to a combination of higher crime, higher unemployment, lower school attainment and/or lower average income compared with the general community. In response, the government provides additional support such as access to free sport and recreational activities, employment support, tutoring, translator services, Danish lessons, mental health programs, part time jobs and traineeships. The downside of designating an area as a vulnerable neighbourhood is there is usually additional police presence, even when there isn’t a higher level of crime committed by its residents. This risks the criminalisation of young people.

Many people who have come to Denmark as refugees are provided housing together with others from the same country. Without the local language, understanding of systems like health, education and government services, few possessions and arriving without employment, they are further distanced from the broader community through cultural and language barriers. The man I met in prison gave an example of how he was disadvantaged as a teenager, growing up in a "ghetto." His father had a disability, his mother could not speak Danish and neither of his parents had ever worked in Denmark. As a child, he did not know anyone who went to work each day and he said he wished he lived on the same street as Danish people with businesses that could give him support to get his first part-time job. He had multiple interactions with police before he ever broke the law and said he always felt like he was doing something wrong, that he didn’t belong. His gang gave him the belonging he was looking for.

There has been increasing community concern about gang-related crime. In 2017 the legislation changed to impose double-length sentences for gang members, compared to a non-gang member doing the same crime. 16 years is the maximum sentence for any crime across Denmark, which is now 32 years for registered gang members. When I spoke to members of gangs in prison, they all said the new legislation had no impact on their decision to do crime and did not serve as a deterrent when it was introduced, or today.

Gang Exit Program – Prison and Community

A gang exit program was developed in 2011 and is now in place across Denmark. The voluntary exit program is a local government initiative, led by social workers in partnership with police and other stakeholders. Gang members can join the exit program from within prison or in the community.  

Social workers are present in the prisons and community, building relationships and waiting for anyone who expresses readiness to leave a gang. This can happen any time but is often in a man’s late 20s when he has changed his perception of the belonging available within the gang, is ready to start a family or stable employment, has met a woman who does not support the gang lifestyle, feels he doesn’t have much in common with the younger men joining the gang, or a range of other reasons.

A man joining the gang exit program is not an informant and is not required to tell police anything about the gang or other members. He needs to make a commitment to change his criminal lifestyle and there is an exploration with the social worker of his motivation and capability to leave the gang. Individualised supports such as employment, therapy and tattoo removal are provided, lasting for at least one year and generally longer. I was told, “The one thing the program can’t buy is new friends,” which are a critical part of establishing a life without crime. Replacing the belonging experienced within the gang means there must be adults he can trust, and this can be made possible through a mentor, education or employment.

I was given an example of a man who was supported to change his name, find safe accommodation, go to a drug and alcohol rehabilitation centre and start a job in another part of Denmark. The program arranged for his pets to be cared for until his in-patient treatment was complete and arranged for his mother to visit. It has been 18 months since he has lived in the new community with ongoing employment, and the social worker I spoke to from the exit program was arranging a visit to check in with him and see if there was any other support he needed.

I was taken into a maximum-security prison with a lead social worker in the exit program and was surprised to see the positive relationship she had with men in many of the units, including those in the Hells Angels and other clubs, members who have not chosen to leave the gang. I asked why the leader of a program that helps men leave gangs would be able to develop positive relationships with current gang members. She said it was partly due to the fact that people in the program are not informants, and also because, “They know I’m here in case they need me in the future.”

If someone joins the gang exit program while in prison, they are moved from the unit where their gang lives to an exit program unit. One man I met who was part of the exit program said this was necessary for him, because he was focussing on emotional expression as part of his therapy and he couldn’t learn how to be vulnerable while still in the gang unit, “Expressing your feelings isn’t part of gang culture.”

Two thirds of people who start the program complete it successfully, that is, they maintain their commitment to change their lifestyle while undertaking the program and complete all elements of support they agreed on. Only 15 of the 250 people who completed the gang program in 2013 have returned to the gang since then.

Storstrøm - High Security Adult Prison

Storstrøm is an approximately 240-bed facility about an hour’s drive from Copenhagen. It is a high security government institution for adult males, with all staff being government employees except some contracted program providers. The building is five years old and contains modern technological efficiencies like drone sensors, Wi-Fi/Bluetooth sensors, underground tunnels to move inmates from one part of the building to another without other inmates seeing, and a combination of electronic fob and biometric access to doors for staff.

A maximum of six inmates live together in each unit. As I walked around, I saw groups of men in living rooms, cooking dinner together. Men were wearing their own clothes instead of prison clothes. Two security staff were monitoring four, six-bed units from a staff area in the centre of the units. Every inmate has a social worker and reintegration plan, and there is one social worker for every six security staff members. When an officer is recruited, they are supported to obtain a three-year degree level qualification, resulting in a highly qualified workforce.

I was impressed by how calm the environment was and how much interaction I saw between the inmates and staff. I was invited into the units to talk to the men. I was told the relaxed environment was largely due to the low numbers of men living together and the quality of relationships developed in the units. The men can go to work, school or other programs with men from other units, but the numbers remain small and the groups are risk assessed. In prisons where there are large numbers of inmates gathering, for example in the prison yard in the USA, men of similar cultural backgrounds tend to group together. I was told about a Danish man with white supremacist views who lived with two men from other cultures and got to know them. After telling his social worker he had found they were good people and they had a lot in common, she said, “That’s great! If you’ve found two men from other races you get along with in prison, imagine how many good ones there might be on the outside.”

Even though Storstrøm is a very high security prison by Danish standards, most inmates have the ability to spend time off centre for reintegration activities during their sentence, either with or without staff. Good behaviour can result in a transfer to an open prison. In open facilities people go off centre every day, there are ‘halfway houses’ and electronic monitoring options, allowing people to be in the community or at home before the end of their sentence.

I asked some people why inmates in Storstrøm don’t use violence even though there appears to be a lot of freedom, and I was told there are plenty of privileges to hope for. Inmates are given an allowance, can visit a supermarket within the prison twice a week, budget and cook for themselves. They can have private family visits including conjugal visits, and there is even an apartment for inmates to spend up to 48 hours with their whole family, with no staff supervision or cameras. Privileges can be removed if violence is used. I visited the most secure unit, where the men were in smaller groups. Two men were living in a six-bed unit, cooking one meal per week instead of every day and with other meals catered. I was told food is a huge part of Danish culture and they value the normality of cooking a meal so highly that they would “prefer to be in isolation for days than not be allowed to cook their own meals.”

All inmates are expected to either study or work. Community members regularly come to the prison for three-course meals cooked by inmates in the catering program, and staff can take home dinner to their families on Friday evenings, cooked by inmates. I was told the chocolate brownies I ate after my tour were cooked by a unit that was proud and excited to cater for my visit.

Sønderbro – Secure Closed Institution for Young People on Remand

The first thing I noticed about Sønderbro is the fact that it is located in the middle of Copenhagen. A kindergarten and residential community surrounded the facility and I saw families with small children walking past the entrance as I arrived.

Sønderbro accommodates 18 young people in three, six-bed units. Each unit has three staff at all times. Security staff can choose to complete higher education in the human services field while working, but it is not required. Young people stay in Sønderbro while they are on remand awaiting sentencing by the court, for an average of three months. After sentencing they can be transferred to a community-based order, a closed or open facility.

Privileges include the use of iPads with access to Netflix and YouTube. Young people are given pocket money and can spend it on snacks, cigarettes and other items. Pocket money is used to fix damage if the young person damages something they are unable to repair. Sønderbro is trying to balance rewards and external consequences with development of internal motivation.  Motivation can stem from the relationship with staff and by setting individual goals and choosing the path towards their goals as much as possible.

I met a young man who was using his new carpentry skills in a room within the centre – repairing a ceiling and building furniture alongside staff. Later as we stood side by side at the lunch buffet, where staff and young people share a meal, he was putting a very large Stanley knife into his pocket. A staff member pointed it out and laughed, “We are the most secure jail in Denmark!” At lunch I asked the young man why he was able to carry around a knife and he told me, “I have no reason to use it. They trust me, it feels good to be responsible. I have a job waiting for me when I get out.” He said he gets up in the morning to work on the construction of a room on centre because he has a job waiting for him and this was a very big motivation for him.

Youth Crime Board – an alternative to court for under 15s

Across the world there is debate about the minimum age of criminal responsibility. In Queensland it is 10 but I have wondered about other countries with higher minimum ages, what do they do with 10 to 14-year-olds who commit crime if they are not being sent to court? Part of the answer in Denmark is the Youth Crime Board (the Board). For these younger children, police can decide whether to divert them to other programs such as family meetings and community support services, or for more serious crimes including crimes against people, police can refer the child to the Board.

The Youth Crime Board was developed in 2019 when new legislation was developed for two purposes - to prevent youth offending and to prevent youth gang entry. At its core it is a group of stakeholders, with the young person and family at the centre, sharing information about the young person that can help develop an individualised support plan to reduce the risk of further offending.

The Board includes a children’s court judge who is the final decision maker, the young person, their parent/s, a child psychologist for young people under 15, a social worker from the local authority, police, the Board Secretariat who ensures decisions are aligned with legislation, legal aid lawyer/s and any other trusted adults nominated by the young person such as their teacher or coach. The Board meets in a conference room in a court house.

The Board is responsible for considering all the factors that relate to the young person’s life and offending, and deciding what supports and conditions will prevent further criminal activity. There is a highly structured way of monitoring the conditions, which requires young people and their parents to attend meetings and comply with all conditions. Therapeutic processes and family therapy are embedded in this approach. If non-compliant, young people get a series of warnings then can be returned to the Board.

Courts can also refer a young person to the Board. For young people aged 15 to 17 years, the court decides the sentence length and then refers the young person to the Board, which meets within three weeks to determine the details of the sentence. Young people aged over 15 can be transferred to an open or closed youth detention facility by the Board, or they can be monitored in the community on a suspended detention order, with conditions similar to those under 15. If young people complete the order, they will not have a criminal record.

The process has shown to reduce the number of young people transferred to detention centres and reduce recidivism for all age groups. In addition, the people I met reported improved relationships between courts and youth justice staff, better oversight over community-based orders, a reduction of pressure on the court system and more tailored plans for young people, with their needs, goals, strengths and challenges taken into account. Two thirds of community supervised plans are completed the first time, without the young person going back to the Board.

SSP (Social Services and Police) - Local Level Partnerships to Prevent Crime

A change to information sharing legislation about four years ago enabled the current local level approach to crime prevention known as SSP. Local government social workers, police, schools, health and youth clubs meet weekly and can speak about a young person who may be at risk of criminal behaviour, but only once. After that, the group needs the young person and their parents to approve the further sharing of personal information. At the weekly meetings, the group discusses what individualised support may be able to be provided in the community (e.g. referral to a mentor, counselling, family therapy, part-time work, free passes for sporting clubs, shoes/sports equipment etc.), according to the young person’s individual needs. In addition, the SSP teams provide training for workers in the field about emerging issues, information to school students and staff, and youth programs for the community. SSP teams are based in every school and also do outreach work.

This is a successful program where local police are highly engaged in preventative policing in the community. Danish police stations now have prevention departments and police spend time in schools, youth clubs, attend family meetings and are known to the young people in the area. I was told police culture is changing and there has been an increase in people applying for police jobs in order to do preventative work, especially younger people joining the workforce. Every new officer in all parts of the police service gets training in prevention and the SSP model, and all police are trained at the academy in dialogue policing (informal communication with the aim of preventing confrontation and violence).

Final, final thoughts

I’m writing this blog on a plane between Copenhagen and Doha. I’m on my way home to Brisbane after nearly seven weeks on my Fellowship adventure. I am happy to say I have reached a point where themes about what works in youth detention and what reduces youth gang involvement have strongly emerged. I’m excited to write my Fellowship report, deep diving into these themes.

I am grateful for everyone who has planned my itineraries, hosted me in their homes, given me their time and sent me resources about their work. I have found the world-wide youth justice community to be a passionate group of people who are in the job for the same reason – to create a system that enables young people to be the best they can be. It’s easy to connect with other people around the world who do this work because of that shared set of values.

I’m grateful to my wonderful husband who has supported me endlessly and done everything while I’ve been away, and I’m excited to get off the plane in a little under 20 hours and hug my beautiful kids.