Indeed! In the USA, the prison system is brutal and focused on punishment. There’s little chance of someone coming out of prison in the USA as a better, kinder, gentler person than they were when they went it. Hell, many prisons make it hard to get books even if a prisoner does want to better themselves.

Meanwhile, Norway’s recidivism rate in the 90s was nearly as bad as the USA’s. They reformed their system though. They replaced large prisons with smaller community-based correctional facilities so convicts could be close to their homes and maintain relationships. Many allow visits, including conjugal visits, up to three times per week. As you mentioned, the recidivism rate after 2 years is only 20%, which is the lowest in the world, and rises to only 25% after 5 years. They treat prisoners like people and allow them to stay a part, to some extent, of their community.

In a recent interview, Norwegian prison governor Are Hoidal talked about how prisoners are punished in the country. “In Norway, the punishment is to take away someone’s liberty,” he said. “The other rights stay.”

Norwegian prisoners have the right to vote, attend school, learn new skills, exercise, see their families, and even participate in extracurricular activities. In fact, in many prisons, the security officers participate in activities like fitness and yoga right alongside the prisoners.

This is all very deliberate, as Norway’s philosophy seeks to treat prisoners as human beings even as they are incarcerated. This approach is believed to make reentry into society easier. People still feel as valued as other citizens, and they leave prison with skills, confidence, and self-respect so they can become contributing members of society.

If you want people to be good and valued members of society, you need to treat them like people and allow themselves to improve themselves while incarcerated. If however, you want a person to act like an animal, then treat them like an animal. The USA’s punishment focused model treats prisoners like animals where a prisoner’s only focus is sometimes just to survive. Naturally, those learned behaviors become ingrained and they behave like that when they get out of prison too.

I fully agree with this statement. You are correct. That said, I am starting to believe that maybe it’s something to do with culture overall. It’s hard to explain, but as an American I feel we tend to focus heavily on reward, as opposed to risk versus reward. That blind spot is what I think makes us too stupid to get it right. Like, we think about risk but we’re so constantly enticed by excess (reward) that the risk doesn’t register the way reward does. Poverty is a factor (there are dozens of factors) but if we’re poor, the reward is stability. If we’re middle class, the reward is wealth. If we’re wealthy, the reward is status. No matter what there’s another reward. We tend to view crimes committed by the poor as more scummy or punishable because the reward isn’t generally that great, and it hurts another person directly. To that person who has nothing, $1000 would be seen as life changing. To a person who makes 70-80k, $1000 is not worth the charges. Where a crime committed by a wealthy business owner for hundreds of thousands or millions is seen as just a man being competitive and aggressive (to achieve what we all really want deep down), so is met with a slap on the wrist. It’s a lot to talk about. Too much for an internet comment. Our system is trash for sure, but I just can’t shake the feeling that it’s a bigger issue that needs addressing.

Norways priority is rehibilitation, they understand that crime and the justice system are complex and some people just need help. I would argue that their system is successful at its goals.

The US decided a long time ago that punishment was the main priority, so much so that there is a carve out for it in the 13th ammendment. The US criminal justice system is a complete inhumane failure.