Sweden is moving away from criminal rehabilitation in favor of mass incarceration in American style, experts have stated, as the country prepares to rent places in Estonian prisons to help manage the rapid increase in the number of inmates.
The outsourcing of prison places is part of a series of policies aimed at transforming the Swedish penal system, as the center-right government struggles to combat gang violence, and prisons are overcrowded, reports The Guardian.
Last week, the Ministry of Justice stated that it had instructed Kriminalvården (the Swedish prison and probation service) to "take the necessary measures" to implement the collaboration with Estonia.
In accordance with an agreement signed in June by Stockholm and Tallinn, it is anticipated that up to 600 places will be made available in prisons in the Baltic country.
More and more children end up behind bars
According to a recent report by Kriminalvården, the number of inmates in Sweden could increase, in the most extreme scenario, from 7,800 this year to 41,000 in 2034, as a result of more punitive policies promoted by the far right.
Observers say this represents a significant shift for a country that has prided itself on rehabilitation and reintegration-focused penal policies for decades. Sweden is not prepared to cope with the growing number of individuals sentenced to prison, as the government faces an unprecedented wave of violence caused by organized crime.
The head of the prison service, Joakim Righammar, stated that Swedish prisons are in a "crisis situation" due to overcrowding.
The number of children facing long periods of detention is particularly concerning: in recent years, a change in approach has led to the sentencing of children as young as 15 to 10 years or more.
The government, which relies on the support of the far-right party, the Sweden Democrats, is currently considering a proposal to reduce the age of criminal responsibility from 15 to 14 for serious offenses.
The main opposition party, the center-left Social Democrats, has stated that it will support this measure. The Sweden Democrats have called for lowering the age to 13.
Prisons for young people
For the first time, next year, the government intends to introduce prisons for young people instead of the current detention centers for minors, where young offenders are usually placed and where the maximum sentence is four years.
Minister of Justice, Gunnar Strömmer, stated that the agreement with Estonia represents "an important step in easing the pressure on the prison and probation services in Sweden".
Others, however, have stated that these numbers are a drop in the ocean compared to what is needed. "If we think that we will have 40,000 inmates, then 600 cells will not be enough," said Emelí Lönnqvist, a researcher in penal policy and prisons in the Nordic countries at Stockholm University.
The proposal to send inmates to Estonia – 400 km away, across the Baltic Sea – still needs to be approved by the parliaments of both countries, but the Swedish Ministry of Justice expects the agreement to be finalized by the summer of 2026.