From Welfare Values to Digital Governance: Developing an Inclusive Digital Strategy in Swedish Corrections

Malin Nordström and Victoria Knight
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Malin Nordström: Department of Informatics, Örebro University School of Business, Sweden
Victoria Knight: Health & Life Sciences, De Montfort University, UK

Social Inclusion, 2026, vol. 14

Abstract: Digital transformation is reshaping correctional systems worldwide, yet limited knowledge exists about how inclusive digital strategies are developed in practice within correctional contexts. This article examines the development of a national digital strategy in Swedish correctional agencies, an initiative explicitly grounded in Nordic welfare‐state principles such as normality, proportionality, rehabilitation, and social inclusion. Drawing on multi‐grounded action research (MGAR), the study combines two modes of inquiry. Process A followed the practical development of the strategy during 2018–2019, generating empirical material through stakeholder engagement, co‐design activities, and the development of strategic representations. Process B involved a subsequent dialectical inquiry in which the strategy development process was reinterpreted through theoretical and analytical lenses to address broader research questions concerning digital governance and correctional transformation. The dialectical inquiry identified five interconnected dimensions of strategy development: welfare values as a normative anchor, the client path as an integrative anchor, “Charlie” as an illustrative anchor, social continuity as a guiding principle for digital inclusion, and legitimacy‐building through participation and transparency. Together, these dimensions demonstrate how welfare‐oriented values were translated into digital governance arrangements and socio‐technical design choices. Rather than offering a model for replication, the Swedish case provides analytically transferable insights into how correctional digital transformation can be aligned with rehabilitation, participation, dignity, and public value within welfare‐oriented governance contexts.

Keywords: digital transformation; correctional systems; multi‐grounded action research; social inclusion; welfare state (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:cog:socinc:v14:y:2026:a:12440

DOI: 10.17645/si.12440

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