A Pennsylvania state prison has one of two programs in the nation collaborating with Scandinavian countries in creating prison reform.

The “Little Scandinavian Unit” at Chester PA’s State Correctional Institution (SCI) launched in 2019. Several correction officers traveled to Norway and spent three weeks learning about the country’s prison system. They then returned to SCI Chester to reorganize a prison block with principles adapted from Norway.

“They're not going to treat you bad while you're incarcerated. Your punishment is that you're away from your friends and family,” said David Baxley, one of the SCI Chester corrections officers who went to Norway. “In the unit, we know you did what you did. We leave it in the past. Now we are focusing on preparing you to re enter into society.”

The first part of creating a “little Scandinavia” was remodeling a prison block.

Allison Murphy, the superintendent’s assistant at SCI Chester, described what a typical block looks like.

“It’s dark. It's industrial. The floors are gray. The walls are gray. It's just not Scandinavia,” Murphy said. She then went on to describe the changes made to the remodeled unit.

"Scandinavia has modern furniture, lighter colors. There's plants. The cells have one bed. They [inmates] can paint their walls,” Murphy said. "There’s a kitchen. Laundry. A garden, soon, once we get the outdoor space inspected and approved.”

With a major facelift, the more structural difference between the project unit and other prison blocks is the prisoner to guard ratio.

“Over here is not as stressful as working other blocks,” said Baxley. "Other units, it's one officer to 128 inmates. Here? It's three officers to a total of, at most, 64 inmates."

When there’s 128 inmates stuffed into an industrial, echoey prison block— things get loud. Walking in the halls, Murphy described the typical block atmosphere as argumentative, inmates gambling and scheming to get contraband. In turn, prison guards (severely outnumbered) raise their voice to stay in control of the chaos.

If an inmate wanted to get a break from the disruptive loudness of the common area, they could go to their cell— that they often share with another inmate. Thus eliminating any opportunity for privacy.

In Little Scandinavia, all inmates get their own cell. One prisoner shared how that access to privacy matters.

“You aren’t always going to get along with your cellmate. So to have that space to go back to. To be in your cell by yourself, and clear your head and have peace, it means a lot,” the inmate said.

Jordan Hyatt, the researcher for the project at Drexel University, said creating prison environments that treat inmates with respect helps both inmates and guards prosper.

In the unit, access to hobbies and other prison programs prepares inmates for re entry to society.

“We go to the store and learn how to shop, and learn how to cook or how to clean properly,” an inmate said. "Or I never knew how to how to wash clothes.”

When asked what he thought of justice in the U.S. prison system, the inmate said change is a choice.

"I believe I deserve to be here. I learned a lot during my time. I learned my self-worth,” the inmate said. “The only way you get rehabilitated is if you rehabilitate yourself. If you’re willing to study yourself, unless you look for that change, you’re never going to change, until you see it in yourself."

The inmate we spoke with was set to be released soon. He shared he earned an associate’s degree as well as certificates in areas like being a barber or HVAC worker.

"I believe the justice system does work. If you let it work, for you,” the inmate said. “Here you have free options, free education to take advantage of. If you don't take advantage of it, you're going to go back out into the same thing, and do it all over again."

Inmates are chosen at random to go into the Little Scandinavian Unit. As it reaches its 5th year, there are parts of the unit’s culture that have slowly transferred to other prison blocks.

State lawmakers have urged the department of corrections to look into ways to adapt the model to other institutions.

“If we continue to look at things in a punitive way, we can't encourage people to change,” said Murphy. “Crime is a behavior. And we have to correct behavior.”