"Eastern Criminals" and moral panic: on Lithuanian offenders in Danish prison facilities

LTReikšminiai žodžiai: Lietuvių nusikaltėliai; Įkalinti lietuviai; Danijos kalėjimai; Folklorinis velnias; Moralinės panikos. Keywords: Lithuanian offenders; Lithuanian inmates; Danish prisons; Folk devil; Moral panics.Reikšminiai žodžiai: Baimė; Stigmatizacija; Moralinė panika; Kitoniškumas; Velnias; Fear; Exclusion; Stigmatization; Moral panic; Otherness; Folk; Devil.

ENIn this chapter, I will focus on the case of Lithuanian detainees and follow the development of how Eastern European offenders became a new folk devil in Danish society. As pointed out by Ana Ivasiuc (Chapter 8), who writes about perceptions of Roma in Italy, we deal with both a figure who is constructed in public discourse and the people behind, who do not resemble the created figure. I will argue not only that the emphasis on the threat from Eastern Europe singles out a particular group of young men as deviant but also that this demonization and moral panic in turns helps shape not only the Danish political scene but also the ways in which inmates are perceived in prisons. [...].By providing an analysis of both society’s concern with the ‘eastern criminal’ and an exploration of Lithuanian inmates’ detention regimes in Denmark, my objective is to investigate the interrelations between public and political discourse and the direct and indirect effects it has on local-level administrations in Danish prison facilities. I then build on the assumption that prison life offers a unique vantage point from which to analyse current transformations in society, as perceptions of different groups of inmates are embedded in what James Scott (2015) calls ‘the everyday construction of borders’ through media representations, political discourses and institutional practices. Thereby I wish to point out the very real consequences a consistent devilish media image has for the group of people being portrayed in this manner. In my example, the stereotyping of Lithuanian inmates as particularly brutal and hardened has direct effects on how prison staff per se perceive them, despite the fact that their day-to-day interaction with the inmates contrasts this picture. [Extract, p. 224]

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