Rather than capital punishment, "the Swedish prison system gradually gained a reputation as a relatively open system with liberal visitor and permit policies," (von Hofer p. 171), “the turning point of imprisonment in Sweden occurred in the first half of the nineteenth century, during the period from 1810 to 1840 the number of prisoners quadrupled” (Nilsson, R. (2003). The point Sweden was trying to make in early days of the prison system was that social control is a necessity for the general safety of society. The responsibility of Swedish prisons rests with the National Penitentiary Council, which has made reforms and adjustments to the daily operations of prisons since they became centralized in the 19th century. and, “the new disciplinary techniques had been formalized into a meticulously elaborate system of rules, including every part and every phase of the activities within the prisons”. (Nilsson, R.