Abstract
Offenders with disabilities have a vulnerable status in prison. Due to inadequate facilities and a lack of care available to address their special needs in prison, their health may even deteriorate from imprisonment. The prisons carry out the sentences decided by the courts. It is therefore of interest to examine how the courts mete out punishment when the defendant has a disability. How are offenders with disabilities ‘seen’ and perceived by the penal law and the penal courts? Does the disability matter when the court metes out the sentence, and if so, in what way? Should disability matter as a mitigating circumstance? How should offenders with disabilities be dealt with in the criminal justice system? These questions are addressed in this article.
Highlights
Punishment is the harshest measure that the state can inflict on its citizens
Due to inadequate facilities and a lack of care available to address their special needs in prison, their health may even deteriorate by imprisonment
How are offenders with disabilities ‘seen’ and perceived by the penal courts? Does the disability matter when the court metes out the sentence, and if so, in what way? To what
Summary
Punishment is the harshest measure that the state can inflict on its citizens. The purpose of punishment is, in the words of Nils Christie, to inflict pain, and punishment is meant to be experienced as pain by the offender (Christie 1982). Andenæs 1994; Hauge 1996; Mathiesen 2007) This implies more severe punishments, longer prison terms, reduced mechanisms for early release, and, in some jurisdictions such as the USA, a preference for sentencing policies that do not take individual circumstances into consideration. The penal policies of the Scandinavian countries have been called ‘Scandinavian exceptionalism’, a term referring to consistently low rates of imprisonment and comparatively humane prison conditions (Pratt 2008a, 2008b). This Nordic culture of control is embedded in a strong welfare state. Before turning to the question of where Norwegian sentencing practices stand in this respect, I will give a short overview of the empirical material which this study is based on
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
