Lessons Beyond the Bars

I recently had the extraordinary opportunity to participate in an international correctional collaboration in Oslo, Norway. From September 6-12, I was a member of the Connecticut delegation (including the CT Department of Correction, the UCONN Institute of Municipal and Research Policy, and representatives from the governor’s office) that attended the event hosted by Amend at University of California, San Francisco. I was able to work with representatives from the Washington State Department of Correction and governor’s office, Amend, delegates from the Norwegian and Scottish correctional systems, as well as large groups of international philanthropic organizations. 

Norway has long been viewed as the global leader in prison operations. Our delegation toured various Norwegian prisons, and their training academy, to determine which correctional best practices can be implemented here in Connecticut. 

The aspect of the “Norway Model” which resonated with me the most is their approach to staff training and education. In Norway, all correctional staff attend an extensive two-year preservice training academy. By comparison, the preservice academies in most U.S. states are less than 14 weeks. As someone who retired from a twenty-year career in corrections and spent the last 25 years advocating for increased educational opportunities for correctional professionals in higher education, I cannot overstate the importance of training and education.

My goal now is to take the information I gleaned from this trip, along with the incredible professional contacts I made, and continue to grow the Criminal Justice program here at Albertus. I believe that our Master of Science in Criminal Justice is uniquely positioned to create an environment that will be viewed as one of the top correctional education, research and policy institutes in the nation. Learn more about the Master of Science in Criminal Justice here.

Contributed by: John Lawrie, Ed.D.