Home detention with the aid of electronic surveillance is a new form custodial care available in Sweden. This particular form of sentencing is on trial in the entire country until the end of 1998 when an analysis of costs and benefits will determine its future as an alternative to traditional custodial care (prison).
The idea behind home detention is quite simple. The individual is sentenced to a period of home detention equivalent to the prison sentence she would have served.
The individual is only permitted to leave their residence in order to work or participate in other forms of approved activity (study, treatment etc).
This frees up a large number of expensive prison cells throughout the country which are currently occuppied by persons serving short prison sentences of 3 months or less. Home detention also minimises the risk for social dislocation, by allowing the offender to maintain her employment and family contacts, and criminal identification by reducing the risk of new criminal behavior being learnt during periods of incarceration.
At the present time Home detention is restricted to prison sentences of 3 months or less. The offender is required to apply for home detention instead of prison. Applicants must have a place of residence, some form of day or night occuppation (work, study, community work order etc), and the applicant must completely refrain from alchohol consumption during the period of home detention. The home detainee is subject to both electronic surveillance, in the form of a computer connected homing device attached to the foot, and random home visits by parole officers during which alchohol and drog controlls are performed. The home detainee is also required to participate in discussion groups organised by the Probation and Parole Service. In the event of misconduct (alchohol or drug abuse, unauthorized excursions from the place of detention etc) home detention is immediately aborted and the offender is transported to a detention center and later to a prison facility in order to serve the remaining period of her prison sentence. For the time being home detention may only be chosen once by each offender, although offenders may have a previous criminal record. The decision to authorize home detention instead of prison is a matter for the Probation and Parole Service and this decision is based upon an assessment of the individuals ability to follow the terms of home detention and the consent of all adults living in the same residence as the detainee. Home