Norden Prisons - Essay Sample

Introduction

Every society lives upon given guidelines, procedures, laws and rules and it is the responsibility of every citizen to follow the set rules, which seek to create stability and peace among people. However, some people fail to adhere to given rules and thus face the full set of laws. If convicted, the criminals emerge into a prison system that varies from one country to another (Johnsen et al. 515). The prison systems across the world seem to differ with a key interest between the US and the Norwegian prison systems. The paper will seek to explore philosophy differences guiding Norwegian, and US prison system lessons US can learn from Norwegians and the differences which make the US impossible to learn from the Norwegian system.

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Philosophy Difference

Imprisonment philosophy is the most significant underlying difference in philosophy between Norwegian and the US prison system. The Norwegian prison system boosts of having one of the lowest incarceration rates at 72 per 100,000 persons as compared to the US with the highest of 716 per 100,000 persons and the Nordics prisons collectively have 17,000 people in jail which is lower compared to most countries' populations (Stark). In a survey conducted to discuss the Norwegian prisons' life quality and size, the results found that the smaller the prison size, the higher the quality of prison life between the prisoners and officers. Smaller prisons with less than 50 inmates experience positive and better quality relationships as compared to medium or large prisons of above 50 and 100 respectively (Johnsen et al. 515).

Additionally, the Norwegian prison system boosts of low recidivism rates of 20% as compared to the US of 77%. The reason is that the Norwegians system is on change basis and believes that the inmates and the officers are involved in making a change and it is the responsibility of the systems to help and rehabilitate inmates to make them leave the criminal world (Stark). However, the US prison system is based on punishment and inmates change their ways without the help of the officers. Also, the imprisonment philosophy in Norden prisons does not encourage life imprisonment and death penalty sentences while the United States promotes death penalty and life sentences for serious crimes such as murder, espionage, and treason (Benko).

Lessons Learnt

Humanity and embracing change are lessons that US politicians and prison administrators can learn from Norwegians. The Norwegian prison system is the most humane in the world with people classifying the prisons as hotels. James Conway, a retired superintendent, and an officer in charge of Attica State Prison in Buffalo, New York describe in his experience that Norwegians prisons are far from a prison (Stark). The Norwegian prison systems are humane in that they involve improved prison conditions, shorter prison terms, job education and training, lack of overcrowding, drug treatment programs, and post-release support of the inmate (Stark). The US can learn from Norwegians by reducing sentencing structures and implementing normality principle which entails reintegrating offenders back to the society (Labutta).

Embracing change is also another lesson that the US should learn from Norwegians. In Norden prisons, change occurs with the involvement of both the inmate and the prison officers while in the US, the inmate is responsible for making a change in his or her life with no participation of prison authority. James Comey states that the prisoner is to blame for his woes and that the administration should not care about them as they chose crime and that prison is their consequence for non-acceptance by the society (Stark). Embracing change, therefore, means the US should not be cynical on its inmates but should use the opportunity to make them into acceptable members of the society to reduce the reoffending rates.

Differences, Which Makes Lessons Impossible in the US

Crime rates and economy are differences between the US and Norway that makes lessons from Norwegian System to the US impossible. The intentional homicides crime rate in Norway as of 2009 was at 0.6 per 100,000 as compared to the US of 5 homicides. The difference is due to population density where Norway is a smaller and less populated country as compared to the US thus the prison incarnation and reoffending rates are lower as the government with its social welfare system has funds available to rehabilitate and reform its inmates (Sterbenz). With a population of around 325 million and incarnation rate of 77 per 100,000 persons, the US government is thus unable to implement the lessons learned from Norwegian stemming from politics and geography of its citizens.

Similarly, the economy of Norway is well with a Gross domestic product (GDP) per capita of 75,506 dollars compared to 59,531 dollars of US. Therefore, the Norwegian government is more likely to spend more on its prisoners as compared to the United States as Norway boosts of a social welfare system, high GDP per capita and lower inequality. It thus becomes impossible to implement lessons learned due to the economy and crime rates in the US as the country may not meet the needs of its prisoners and their retribution (Sterbenz).

Conclusion

Conclusively, it is essential for the US to embrace and implement lessons learned from Norden prisons system. Through enhancing a soft approach on its inmates, the US prison system can change its basis from punishment to that of change and be involved in retribution and reintegrating inmates back to society. The US also must treat their inmates with humanity through providing and improving prison conditions, enhancing job training and education and avoid overcrowding its prisoners. However, it is crucial that prison authority be careful in engaging the prisoners and ensuring that though they are humane, that the prisoners do not take their kindness for weakness and that prisoners should know that once you choice crime, you must be willing to do time.

Works Cited

Benko, Jessica. "The Radical Humaneness Of Norway'S Halden Prison". The New York Times Magazine, 2015, https://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/29/magazine/the-radical-humaneness-of-norways-halden-prison.html. Accessed 4 Apr 2019.

Johnsen, Berit, Per Kristian Granheim, and Janne Helgesen. "Exceptional prison conditions and the quality of prison life: Prison size and prison culture in Norwegian closed prisons." European Journal of Criminology 8.6 (2011): 515-529.

Labutta, Emily. "The prisoner as one of us: Norwegian Wisdom for American Penal Practice." Emory Int'l L. Rev. 31 (2016): 329.

Stark, John. The Norden - Nordic Prisons. 2014, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HfEsz812Q1I. Accessed 4 Apr 2019.

Sterbenz, Christina. "Why Norway's prison system is so successful." Business Insider 11 (2014).