Please note that the disputation will be streamed and some of the seats behind the candidate and the opponents will be visible for those who are watching.
Participate at the disputation here
The disputation will be held in Norwegian.
Trial lecture - time and place
Adjudication committee
- Professor Peter Scharff Smith, Universitetet i Oslo (leder)
- Professor mso. Linda Kjær Minke, Syddansk Universitet (1. opponent)
- Professor emeritus Odd Einar Olsen, Universitetet i Stavanger (2. opponent)
Chair of defence
- Dean Ragnhild Hennum
Supervisors
- Professor Thomas Ugelvik
- Professor Berit Johnsen
Summary
The terrorist attacks in Norway that killed 77 people on the 22nd of July 2011, had an immediate and significant impact on the Norwegian society. The perpetrator was imprisoned at Ila, a high security prison, a few days later, and my intention with this dissertation has been to study this extraordinary imprisonment, which I have called ‘an extraordinary critical situation in prison’. The dissertation is comprised of four articles that provide understanding of various organisational aspects of this imprisonment (from hereon: The Imprisonment).
Not ordinary, but extraordinary
The main contribution of this dissertation is that the knowledge production in the four articles has brought forth understanding of what ‘an extraordinary critical situation in a prison’ actually is and how prison officers and managers worked to secure The Imprisonment at Ila. A central point is that The Imprisonment of the terrorist presented something new, something the Correctional Service in Norway never had dealt with earlier. The Imprisonment was something beyond their horizon of understanding, an unknown situation Ila had no contingency for, and consequently the prison organisation had to work out new solutions while the clock was ticking.
The Imprisonment at Ila lasted for almost two years and was carried out in a manner that differs from the Norwegian correctional culture of focusing on inmates’ change and rehabilitation work while balancing between care and control. In The Imprisonment the main focus was to establish and maintain a safe and secure prison regime structure. The terrorist was not allowed to harm himself so that Norway could get a legal settlement with Breivik. Nor should he be allowed to continue the violence and injure personnel in the prison, or escape and then continue the violence as he did on 22 July 2011. That the prison was secure in terms of security was therefore considered absolutely necessary for societal security and the main priority in the work at Ila.
Flexibility and standardization
The dissertation's main contribution is this security focus, where the development and definition of the term 'an extraordinary critical situation in a prison' is central. The flexible solutions and standardization implemented by Ila in The Imprisonment can be understood as an attempt to avoid the unknown and uncertain they faced.