While serving the same goal of supporting the criminal justice system, prisons differ in various parts of the world. In particular, there is a striking difference between jails in the United States and Norway. According to Gerhold (2021), “Halden is a maximum-security prison within a 75-acre land” in Norway, where inmates live in humane and comfortable conditions (para. 2). The purpose of this paper is to discuss the difference between American and Norwegian prisons and their effectiveness.
Norway has a different approach to criminals than the U.S. As Ann Widdecombe visits the Norwegian Halden prison, she is shocked by its design, rules, and approach to managing inmates, which emphasize normality and humanity as key principles (OLIROUX TV, 2021). The idea presented in the video is that the Norwegian prison system reduces criminal rates not merely by taking prisoners’ freedom away but also by providing rehabilitation and helping criminals become positive contributors to society. The article by Gerhold (2021) emphasizes the system’s effectiveness by highlighting that “only 20% of those released become repeat offenders in the country” in Norway, compared to the 76.6% rate in the U.S. (para. 16). Therefore, Norwegian recidivism rates are the lowest in the world. The maximum length of a prison commitment is 21 years (Gerhold, 2021). This approach works since it considers rehabilitation an integral part of the prison system rather than focusing exclusively on punishment.
To summarize, the Halden prison in Norway is known as one of the most liberal criminal justice institutions. In my opinion, the difference in the recidivism rates in the U.S. and Norway speaks for itself, emphasizing that a humane approach is effective. Rather than exercising severe punishments and making prisoners even more violent and hateful towards society and others, prisons should rehabilitate them and make them a positive contribution to the community rather than repeat offenders.
References
Gerhold, R. (2021). What Norway’s prison system can teach the United States. KENT Partnership. Web.
OLIROUX TV. (2021). The world’s most luxurious prison: 2020 documentary [Video]. Web.