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Abstract
Aim: In our study, after presenting the Scandinavian model of penal policy, we analyse the specific features of the Icelandic prison system. We examine the benefits of alternative sentencing in this island country, which already has a very low crime rate.
Methodology: To gain a thorough understanding of the topic, we searched the relevant national and international literature, especially Icelandic literature. I was assisted in this by spending a week in the island country as an invited lecturer of the Icelandic Society of Criminology, building up professional contacts with the main researchers in the field.
Findings: The main finding of the study is that Iceland is even more committed than other Nordic countries to running open prisons, with an emphasis on alternative sentencing, halfway houses and the use of imprisonment as an "ultima ratio", or last resort.
Value: The main value is to summarise the main features of Scandinavian penal policy and to show how Iceland is different from other European, or even Northern European, countries, and how it achieves a reduction in the harms of imprisonment.
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