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Subscribe to RSSIf you imagine a prison yard, it may not much resemble the one pictured below, from Halden prison near Oslo, Norway.
Alex Masi
A woman trainer (right) is talking to a few inmates after a run in the yard of the luxurious Halden Fengsel, (prison) after the time they regularly spend carrying out physical exercise and learning about the human body in Halden, near Oslo, Norway.
Here's how photographer Alex Masi introduces the project at his gallery on PhotoShelter:
Can luxury prisons and a more humane approach to detention be a deterrent for crime in modern society?
The answer lies in Halden, Norway.
About a 100 Km south of Oslo, a state of-the-art prison considered by many the World's most 'luxurious' has opened in June 2010, in a country already boasting criminal and rehabilitation systems of the highest standards.
Individual cells come with an en-suite bathroom, a flat-screen TV and various comforts. They measure 12 square meters (130 square feet) and are divided up into units (10 to 12) which share a living room and kitchen, similarly to a students' dormitory.
The windows are not fitted with bars, but thick glass is used instead.
The prison - the second-largest in Norway - costs 165m Euro and accommodates 248 male inmates. Some 760,000 Euro were spent just on artworks, some of which commissioned to Norway's most renowned street artist, Dolk.
The inmates can attend a vast range of formative courses at a official high school located inside the prison. Subjects can include languages, IT, science, catering, music, (there is even a professional sound studio) art and handicraft and several sports.
Alex Masi
Inmates are preparing some food in one of the common kitchen and living room areas established to be a meeting point between inmates and guards and to facilitate rehabilitation inside the luxurious Halden Fengsel, (prison) near Oslo, Norway.
Interestingly, statistics show that in Norway only 20% of inmates (1 in 5) commit another crime and return to prison within two years of their release.
Halden Prison is set to push the number to a new low, but is the same care and investment effectively affordable to all?
We first noticed these images in a slideshow at foreignpolicy.com, which noted in accompanying text:
Norway's unrepentant mass killer, Anders Behring Breivik, is now under arrest. And he should count himself lucky for -- if entirely undeserving of -- a penal system in that country that is among the cushiest in the world. There's no capital punishment, and the longest jail term allowed is 21 years (a caveat: if a prisoner is deemed to still be a threat, his sentence can be extended in five-year blocks indefinitely, though it's highly unlikely, according to Norwegian officials).
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I think the Norwegians may be on to something with their style of prisons. However, they have not had a Jeffery Dahmer or Timothy Mcveigh. Two people who would never be reformed. We just have more wingnuts than Norway does.
I agree. The only way to see if it really really works is if they put their newly born Timothy Mcveigh nutcase in that type prison though in my opinion he deserves a dirt nap.
I admire the fact Norway's at least attempting to try and reform these people unlike our U.S. prisons where we have the nerve to call them "correctional facilities" where hardly any correcting occurs. I can't however get with giving them those luxuries they give their inmates in that specific prison.
I'll take modest living, but to have them live in a house that could end up on "Cribs" compared to how I live is a definite no.
That prison is nicer than my house.
It's more like "three hots and a suite" than "three hots and a cot."
Crime doesn't pay?
Well you girlies don't have to worry about beeg bawd Timothy McVeigh anymore. He won't be haunting you in your dreams.
The dead are dead. Didn't you know that?
;)
What the heck are you talking about?? Is this article about Timothy McVeigh? No? Then why even bring him up? And who are the girlies? It sounds like you have slipped a cog or two.
You certainly can’t reform someone with a different political opinion. Didn’t the Soviet Union always sent people to Mental Hospital for that?
"Interestingly, statistics show that in Norway only 20% of inmates (1 in 5) commit another crime and return to prison within two years of their release."
Hey, if I was a criminal in Norway I would be that (1 in 5) to commit another crime. I don't know why anyone would want to be released from such luxury?
tontosh " I don't know why anyone would want to be released from such luxury?"
because Norway isnt like America, there isnt vast poverty...most residents live much better than these criminals in prison.
in case you werent aware, our prisons in america are infinitely better "homes" for a lot of people living in poverty all their lives. its why they dont care if they go back.
obviously, if our rotten prisons and scary prisoners and evil prison guards were all that bad, so many folks wouldnt be lining up to head back so often.
Hey, I have an idea! Let's send our worst criminals to Norway to be reformed! While we are at it we can bar them from re-entry into the states just to make sure they really are reformed.
This makes sense. I think rehabilitation in such a facility seems to be a better approach. For one thing, they are on the same playing level with their mates who would likely be more efficient at keeping them in line.
Dunno. Why don't you ask your girlies who started at the top there. They brought him up. Not me
Sounds like you've been in da hood too long. Too much nose candy?
This article may well have unintended consequences. Sounds like a great way for many living in poverty and squalor to get a great vacation with many benefits, job training and good meals if they start/continue their crime careers in Norway.
Right, I applied for a visa this morning. They only mention a "high school" education. I am wondering if I could get another worthless doctorate? I want a private bath with a jacuzzi too. I really like their sniffer dog; a beautiful springer spaniel. Maybe I can take up welding, I have always wanted to know how to do that. Are there still jobs for welders in America?
@MrCool
I think there were supposed to be jobs for welders, but somewhere our infrastructure stimulus money got lost.
Repubs just defunded the FAA laying off 4,000 workers building ATC towers, runways and other useless airport stuff.
You could do some welding on high speed rail works. Oh never mind, at least we in Florida just shut that down.
Hmmm.... No I guess there are no welding jobs. Sorry. Maybe your best chance is Norway.
You could always get one of those "Shovel Ready" jobs that were promised...Oh wait...there were none, Well you could always move to China and get a job working for Obamas Job Czar Immelt from GE, Yes, Immelt is the Obamas Jobs Council Czar and he is moving jobs from Wisconsin to China, He is doing it because he is trying to make the Republican policy in Wisconsin look bad, So he is taking jobs from Americans and moving them to China, Tell us again about all that money we spent on a stimulus program for all those shovel ready jobs, GE got a ton of the money for their "Green Initiative"paid no taxes and they are taking jobs to China. Funny how our NLRB is not filing suit about that yet they filed suit against Boeing for building a facility in South Carolina a right to work state.And Boeing was not closing its other facility, They simply expanded.
Chicago politics...ya gotta love them...unless you are an American worker
Call me crazy (which I know people up here on the Newsvine will), but the U.S. needs to try something like this, or at least something a lot different. I know we'll have the conservative crowd yell, scream, and bicker, but our approach to imprisonment is not working.
Most people who get out of prison go right back to the same crimes they were doing in the first place, and even if they do buck up and try and do the best they can to get to a normalized lifestyle, they're shunned by those same people who think of them nothing more than a criminal.
At least the Norwegians are going a different route. By no means do I think a mass murderer or child molester deserves this kind of rehabilitation, but the prison system in the U.S. HAS to change.
I think one of the biggest problem in the U.S. is separating criminals from drug users. There is a HUGE difference and waste of money being spent on locking up someone addicted drugs and someone who put a gun to grandma's head and stole her social security money.
What you fail to realize is that a lot of those guys putting a gun up to grandma's head are the same guys addicted to drugs feeding their habit.
Maybe you should put them in the corner for a time out. Find out why they do bad things. Then have mommy feed them milk & cookies afterwards. Make 'em feel all warm & fuzzy inside.
lol...
Well harrybrown if they put a gun to grandma's head then they fall in the latter category then and wont be just drug abusers and law enforcement would have a good reason for locking them up, not just for putting some plants power up their nose. It sounds ridiculous just writing it. There are many criminals who are not drug abusers, some people are just evil or desperate. Drug abusers are just weak. Just because some criminals are drug abusers doesn't mean all drug abusers are criminals. Correlation does not equal causation. Pick up a book, develop a thought and stop being so simplistic.
But in that case they'd be in jail for armed robbery and not for drugs.
Once in my career with the Fed. Bureau of Prisons we had a graduation ceremony and one of the inmates was getting an IT degree. He also had a job offer with a major company upon his soon to be release. We jokingly told him we were glad we weren't ever going to have to see him again. He dead seriously told us he'd be back. He said his criminal life paid better than what he was going to receive going straight and that money talks. How does one change that attitude?
Yeh, you pay for it.
Whittlea "He said his criminal life paid better than what he was going to receive going straight and that money talks. How does one change that attitude?"
you cant change that attitude in a capitalist nation. he's absolutely right.
our nation is built and maintained on personal greed, I dont see his statement being out of line with what our nation really is.
if our nation and culture changed, then...thats likely how you change that attitude.
He's simply trying to climb his way to the top, just like every white collar crook getting a bonus on wall street is. we just happen to think of the white collar crooks as "hard workers"...and the blue collar ones, like you mentioned...as low lives.
WE need to change...
You people are so vengeful that you don't even understand.. just like those that commit crimes, you are a hair's breath away from them. I think you should all stfu and learn how the brain works before you go spouting your mouth off. You people make me sick.
Well it's easy for you to sit on your fat ass making ridiculous libtard assumptions like this, but try telling these folks about your poor addicts.
h t t p://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/David-Laffer-Indicted-on--124648649.html
~
Now where's that libtard bleeding heart milk & cookies at?
I like the Chinese approach of aggressive capital punishment. Why put a 20 year old in jail for life for a violent crime? Aggressive capital punishment laws prevent reoccurance and would save billions in wasted tax dollars for the cost of incarceration with no hope of rehab.
Because there's people still in prison today, convicted of violent crimes, that have been found to be innocent.
Are you really saying you would like our justice system to be like the Chinese "justice" system?
It should be noted that the "Chinese approach" to "corrective punishment" often means convicting young men of capital crimes with little or no evidence and sentencing them to die....not because they are actually guilty of the crime but because China is well known for harvesting and selling the organs of prisoners for profit.
This is NOT some urban myth. It really is going on. I am acquainted with someone who went to China to get a liver transplant - a liver that came from a young man who was executed by the government.
Hey, these guys are doing some hard time. We should all have some compassion for them having to live in these extreme conditions.
We should make all our local jails and prison systems exactly like this. Then maybe criminals would finally learn their lesson, that crime doesn't pay.
Can you imagine the impact on crime this would have to all the would be criminals if they knew that this is what happens when you break the law.
Kudos to the most out of touch country in the world.
I think I am going to move, Scandinavia is looking better and better.
And you think this stuff comes without a price tag? The people pay close to 60% of their income in taxes with no exceptions.
It never ceases to amaze me how out of touch people are when it comes to the treatment of convicts in the US. Have compassion for them, you must be crazy, have compassion for a murderer or child molester, or rapist, and you certainly have not been directly effected by a violent crime. Have compassion for the family affected by the crime. Some if not a large percentage have a better life in prison, 3 meals a day, the best medical and dental care the tax payers can afford, college education, and a free lifetime gym membership. There are soldiers returning for Iraq and Afghanistanthat are dying because of the substandard medical care they receive, but it's ok to build and spend millions on new medical centers for inmates? Let’s not forget the amount each state pays for medication. I don't think that convicts are not entitled to care, but it should not be at the expense of others more worthy, and fighting and dying for your country is more worthy than being a murder or child molester.
Sorry pal. I earn about 520.000 NKR each year (about 97.000 USD), and I pay about 36 % of my income to tax, except in december when the tax rate is 50 % of the normal tax (so in my case it is 18 % in december). But the VAT here in Norway is from 18 % up to 25 %, a bit higher than in many other countries.
You people jumping up and down about prisons are fools. It's not the PRISON that shapes an individual, it's the life they've led UP TO THAT POINT! Do you think any prison is going to change a person if their whole life has consisted of neglect, abuse, violence, drugs, mental illness or lack of education? We say, " Hey, don't use MY money on social programs - It's not MY job! " Fine - You don't want to pay now, you'll be paying a helluva lot more later; maybe even with your life. Maybe the reason Sweden's prisons work better is that they've been working on the quality of life of these people all through their lives, and prison is just an extension of that philosophy. So don't go around crying about the cost of running our prisons, how much harsher we should be, or the amount of crime that exists; If you're not part of the solution.....
Wow, hard to believe that any of you guys thought that my comment was a serious cry for change to the penal system. I lived in Scandinavia, specifically Sweden for over two years, so everyone can climb off their soapbox for a few minutes from chastising me and lighten up.
My belief system could not be any further removed from any system that wastes money keeping obviously guilty folks confined in any conditions and or any expense to tax payers.
If that is not clear enough, I was being sarcastic in my first comments and obviously failed at pulling that off.
We really do need a drippingly clear sarcasm font.
I think it comes down to what society wants from putting people in prison.
1. Is prison for revenge where we feel "good" about having been "tough" on crime and putting people in jail?
The only group to benefit are politicians and private prisons.
2. Is the prospect of prison supposed to be a deterrent to crime?
The prospect of punishment has never been an effective deterrent to crime. Even the death penalty has never stopped anyone from murder. Look at the U.S....we are building MORE prisons.
3. Is prison supposed to rehabilitate so that the person can be a contributing member of society and not commit any further crime?
Having fewer citizens on the street committing crime makes for a better society and saves resources from insurance, to police, to lost revenue, etc.
Laugh if you like, but If only 1 in 5 returns to jail, they are doing something right. And there seems to be little violent crime in Scandinavia compared to countries like ours with more restrictive penal systems. It's really a good thing Americans don't get a vote in Norwegian justice.
I've always enjoyed the Scandinavian approach to living. They take care of their citizens. But if you consider that "evil Socialism"...well, sign me up. Looking forward to spending summers in Scandinavia during retirement.
People here in the U.S.A. who come out of the penal system don't stand a chance. They will always be labled a criminal no matter how hard they try. They find it almost impossible to obtain work that will support them. I can see it being easier for these folk to return to the prison system. The reason we send them there is supposedly for rehabilitation/ correction, but yet we don't trust our own system to do the job that it is suppose to do.
gotta agree with woodmiss.
if I win mega millions or powerball one of these days, im devoting 1/2 of that money to fixing the educational opportunities for the poorest students in the city I live in. i plan to create "boarding" type schools, in which the kids can escape the streets and the grown up thugs around them, and instead live and be educated in a place where the sky truly becomes the limit...and these kids see a whole new world, one not filled with sadness, poverty, violence and ignorance.
you cant change anything if you keep doing the same ol crap.
I want to see what can happen to kids who would have otherwise repeated the vicious cycle of poverty and ignorance (and more folks on welfare) when they are removed from their environment, and placed in one like the rich kids get.
Im willing to bet, they do as well if not better than the rich (predominately) white kids.
I want to be part of the solution...not pretending its not my problem.
Look and THINK! I can see why it works in Norway and why it will never work in the US..
Duh! There are no black faces in the pictures in Norway.
What an as you are.
The first and biggest problem here in the US is that the wrong people are in jail. Nonviolent crimes like drug possession or even distribution should not be crimes (or at least felonies) in the first place. Then we'll worry about reform programs.
Totally agree. Drug users shouldn't be a problem in America at all. Legalize all drugs of any kind. Make them all free. If an addict is involved with just "gateway" drugs and feel that they need to "move up", make sure they have unlimited access to anything they want to move up to. If they are found in a ditch , dead, so be it. Afford them NO medical treatment on the public's dime. NONE. If they can't cope with the everyday stresses of daily life, give them anything and everything they want. The quicker they move on to the "next" life, the better society will be.
It's ashamed that you feel that way toward people with biological illnesses which also have genetic predispositions such as addiction which is now being treated with a science approach and newer treatments are on the way for these unfortunate souls. It also shows that you are not educated about addiction at all as a brain disease, maybe just uneducated on all social issues period. No one takes a drug, thinking that yes that's my goal in life is to be a drug addict. Maybe you are a fan of the New health care in general, anyone with any illness should be thrown in the ditch and left for dead, including heart disease and cancer, as research has shown that the individual's lifestyles also contribute to these illnesses, too. Just something to think about with all the budget cuts coming down, the quicker people with your attitude move on to the "next" life as you call it, the better our American society will be.
Nah - that doesn't make sense, really. After all, we're in a recession. So what better way to stimulate the economy than by building more prisons and hiring more guards. Then make more crimes into felonies so you can fill them up. Of course, you might have some difficulty finding guards that don't have felony records after a while...
All sarcasm aside, the US has the highest percentage of their population imprisoned in the world, and these people will be at a distinct disadvantage when getting out. Hard to build a normal life once you've got a felony in your past. I don't necessarily think we should make luxury places like this, but there needs to be more emphasis on rehabilitation in this country, rather than punishment.
Americans are obsessed with punishing the "sin" in crime and not interested in dealing with the causes of crime, we will continue down the same ineffective and expensive path as always.
Rehabilitation did work for the years we concentrated on it.
We need more like the Norwegian man who killed dozens, to lower our population or minimize overpopulation.
So what has this to do with the guy who killed 70 or 80 of his fellow countrymen?
Because Norway focuses on REFORM, they get a lower crime rate and far less recidivism. Because America focuses on RETRIBUTION, we get an endless cycle of crime and violence.
Funny how all these crime and punishment "Christians" ignore the most important lessons taught by Christ: forgiveness and love are the only path to holy redemption.
America's crime rates have been consistently falling while Norway's have been on the rise, as have been all over Europe (and, by the by, most European countries have crime rates as high as ours already--and notice I said crime rates, not murder rates).
I agree with your second paragraph, though.
You know this makes me sick. Will someone tell the people who write these articles that the US has 3 billion people. If we had state and city prisons the same as our own federal prison system, it would be like paroling murderers and giving them their weapons back after release. And if we had a justice system like China there wouldn't be too much of a problem with any budgets either. We have a good system that is fair to all in our Country. Don't tell me how good prisoners have it in Norway. Say what is on your mind. The US has a terrible prison system. If our system was like theirs every criminal would be living there instead of the streets. Oh and by the way...Our system is fair only under the Democrats. The Republicans are trying real hard to make our Government like China's.
Might want to verify that...
"Say what is on your mind." Okay newboob........you're an idiot. What planet do you live on......three billion (?) people in the US??? Your math and basic knowledege is as faulty as your reasoning. Probably a bad batch of O flavor Kool Aid.
“As of July 27, 2011, the United States has a total resident population of 311,840,000, making it the third most populous country in the world.”
We have proven systems that lower recidivism rates, we just don't want to pay for them. More profit in building prisons. Especially for the private contractors now.
Maybe they can send this madman who they believe is responsible for killing all those innocent people here to rehabilitate.
I agree with 482933. When minor crimes come with a feloney on your record for life it is hard to ever get a normal job and have a normal life. ie: stupid 19 year old tries ecstasy. Has some in his car to sell to his friends. Stops doing it after 3 months. Goes to college, becomes a paramedic, working with a normal life and in high regard from his fellow employees and his employer. two and 1/2 years later, at age 22 out of the blue he is arrested for what happened when he was 19. He did not know one of his friends was working undercover back then. Now in jail with a life time felony. Never to work a normal job again, will not be able to vote, get credit, rent an apartment. And you wonder why so many "have" to go into crime to surive. This is the story of my son. Oh, did I mention he WAS also a army medic in the reserves.
Nice story. It started with making a bad choice. Selling drugs.
The PROBLEM is this country is too many people try to minimize crime, like your story. They complain about the consequences and the punishment. He knew selling drugs was wrong and against the law and didn't care. Now he is in jail for it. Good. It doesn't matter that it was years ago, great that he did so much before he had to pay the price, BUT if he would have thought about the possible ramifications of selling drugs when he was 19... You said he was stupid, you can't fix stupid, you can lock it up.
Maybe you should have taught him right from wrong instead of teaching him early that some bad actions can affect you for life. But you, like so many other parents with kids in jail blame the laws and the system, your little angels could never do wrong.
@ Voice of Reason: May I point out that our president number 43 never did cocain after 1973? Oddly enough he did not say that he didn't do any before then. Guessing that he did not want to lie about it, it seems most likely that he did do cocaine before or in 1973.
Apparently you think that it is ok to lock up someone for crimes that they did 2 1/2 years ago (see above). Do you then agree that the statue of limitations should remain at 7 years, or should we go after W for coke use?
Maybe W's father should have taught him right from wrong .....
I'm sure Anders Behring Breivik victims relatives are happy to know he will be spending the next 21 years in comfort and then be let out so he can kill some more people.
If it was TX he would be dead by next year.
Yup, that works for me. Next year couldn't come too soon.
This DOES work! People, sadly, focus on the tiny minority of true psychopaths, and ignore the fact that most people are in prison due to extreme poverty, leading to desperation and a fatalistic philosophy (I will never have anything by legitimate work, so why not rob and hurt and get some short term fun?).
Putting people in small cells with bars, constant light, and all sorts of humiliation cannot possibly lead to reform. The recidivists just learn how to survive (joining gangs in prisons, for example) and are not reachable.
This is certainly worth a try, since our prison system is a massive failure. Why not show some compassion, and carry over some true Christian values to our approach to jails??
Yes, this can work in the US. People are people, and respond better to good conditions than to dungeons anywhere, not just in Norway.
If you had this kind of prison program in the US. I see many people in my neighborhood who would commit crimes (specially in the winter) just to get to go to a nice warm place with food. These people choose not to work even though some are capable and would love a place like that. I expect to get railed for this.....but come live in Down town Detroit and talk to people in the street! You cant comment correctly if you have not had the experience!
So, what is your solution? If jail is a better option than life on the street, than should we make jail more miserable, or life on the street more tolerable (or unnecessary)?
Also, you still lose your freedom by going to jail. If someone on the street is that desperate, they would do it now. I think you are using false logic to extrapolate an illogical conclusion.
I think YOU need to come to Detroit and talk to some of these people instead of sitting a high and commenting on something you have no contact with.
Not to support the current system, nor to support snitches and stings and insane drug laws - but how could they arrest & convict your son, after the fact and 2 1/2 years later for an alleged crime? Something just doesn't jell here. What are the missing pieces?
Your missing a GOOD lawyer.
Called an investigation. It wasn't a sting. Investigations can take months or years, then they make arrests.
More likely a bogus story made up for the sole purpose of using it to denigrate our laws, law enforcement and our penal systems...oops I mean correctional facilities, They have not been true penal systems for years, Inmate have more rights than the people who pay the taxes to house them.
i like the idea of exercise...free the body and the mind will follow..vise versa
They are doing the right thing. By treating them like humans you are in a better position to help them.
The Americans may find this strange, by equipping theses men to deal with society, they are in fact making life better for everyone.
Find strange how? What's your point here? That Americans are somehow less humane than other people? And this you say because of what, specifically?
Nobody in Norway would do crimes to end up in prison. The country is so socialist all the citizens are care for and there is very little poverty. It is the kind of systems where people don't have much upward mobility, but at the same time everyone is basically middle class. So OBXRon you can put your fears to rest.
there are LOT of poor people in norway. not everyone is basically middle class plus there are immigrants begging on the streets of Oslo every single day. If they are so well taken care of.. why are they there? No basically everyone is Not middle class.
The USA should learn a big LESSON on how to run the prison system.
We have $14T dollars in debt, are going to cut social security and medicare, and you're suggesting that we have to learn our lesson and spend money we don't have on hanging artworks on prisons' walls?
Everybody seems to be missing the point. They lower the recidivism rate because they try, not because they offer a nice kitchen. US prisons are warehouses. It doesn't matter if the conditions are nice or if your room is 2x6 feet, what matters is the programs they offer and what they do after release.
Education is cheep and helps. Programs that address why they did what they did are great but way underfunded. Probation officers are far too overworked. We need to do everything we can to turn them around while they are in prison, and do a better job of tracking them when they get out. If they can't get a job because of their record, then they are going to wind up back in jail. If you don't address their addiction, then they will fail. You can't salvage them all, but we can do a lot better than we are.
Fair enough that it won't work on some. If the sentence is life or if they killed 20 people, then put them to sleep and be done with it. But don't avoid all efforts to turn around the ones that can be saved because one or two nut jobs make the news.
Well said Jeff.
I completely agree.