Norway’s Prison

Norway, which is located in the Northern part of Europe, has a vast economy with universal health care, great schools, and a stable social security system. Norway’s prisons are idealized models for reformers in the United States who are trying to accomplish this with American prisons. American prisons are known for their level of violence and the sophistication of gangs who dominate most American prisons. On the other hand, Norway prisons are known for the level of confidence and humane methods prisons are constructed. Norway’s recidivism rate is in the low 20 percent unlike the US, which has a rate of 50 to 60 percent (Adams, 2010). The low recidivism rate could have a correlation with Norway’s low crime rate. News articles provide strong support for the prisons as well as the King of Norway. The strong emphasis placed on rehabilitation is clearly apparent, but considering the cost is the expenditure worth utilizing on criminals.

            One example of the prisons Norway built is Halden, recently opened in April 2010; the prison has vast luxuries in all rooms as well as outside the prison. The prison includes resources such as libraries, jogging trails, sounds studios, cooking courses, and a visiting house outside the prison where inmates with their families can sleep (Adams, 2010). There are no bars in the rooms but each room includes a flat screen TV, mini fridge, a desk, a chair and a resembles college dorm rooms. The prison holds criminals from those who committed murder, robberies, rape and other notable crimes (Chen, 2010).

            The idea of the prison is not based on punishment but on a method of rehabilitation. The focus in on respect and human rights said Governor Hoidal. In contrast to the repressive and brutal ways of American prisons, Halden has its foundation on the treatment of inmates (pupils) and the improvement of pupils to integrate into the community (Adams, 2010). Guards at the prison don’t have guns, but have strong relationships with pupils and are seen as lead figures to inmates who are also considered pupils (Chen, 2010). Work is emphasized to help inmates gain confidence as well as skills for a successful integration into society (Adams, 2010).

            In response to the Halden, the prison seems to good to be true, criminals have freedoms that no criminal should have, especially those criminals who have committed crimes like murder, robbery and rape. The prison is set at a cap of 252 inmates with a cost of 252 million to build (Adams, 2010). The price seems to high to only house 252 inmates and the prison does raise suspicions of what level of inmates the prison will hold.  Considering the cost of the prison, the prison could be excluded to those offenders who are rich, instead of those criminals who come from poor communities. One great example surfaces when testimony by an inmate is used to explain that the prison is not hard, the inmate is a music teacher on the outside, not career criminal.  

            This level of trust on inmates can never be successfully integrated in the American prison system, but the level of education offered can be successful (Chen, 2010). Historically such prisons have been successful and inmates are able to integrate back into society with a special emphasis on education (Gehring and Wright, 2008). Schools promote civility and produce prisoners better prepared for a role in civilization (Gehring and Wright, 2008). Another benefit of schools in prisons is that it combats the aggressive style of most prisons (Gehring and Wright, 2008). Lastly the focus of school is geared towards truths and respect, as is the rehabilitation method of the Halden prison (Gehrign and Wright, 2008).

References

Adams, William Lee. (2010). Norway Builds the World’s Most Humane Prison. Time

Magazine. May 10^th.  CNN. www.time.com

Chen, Te-Ping. (2010). Inside Norway’s Idyllic Prisons. Change News. May 5^th.

Change.org

Gehring, Thorn., and Wright, Randall., (2008). From Spheres of Civility to Public

Spheres: Democracy and Citizenship in the Big House. Journal of Correctional Education. 59 (4). Decemeber 2008.

                                          Halden Prison Sound Studio

                                            Halden Prison

                                           Halden Prison Cell

Russian Control

            Russian prisons, similar to American prisons, have a brutal history of tyranny, brutality, and corruption. During the rule of Joseph Stalin, Gulags were created which represented hard labor camps for Russian prisoners. The Gulag term, translated in english stands for the Soviet Bureaucratic Institution. Prisons were created on the basis of the Gulag, hard labor and strong psychological rehabilitation (gulag.org). Prisons ranged in locations from extreme climate conditions to city locations such as Moscow (gulag.org). Unsanitary conditions, violence, and poor health led an increase in high death rates during Stalin’s rule. Now, there is information that both supports the Gulags continue while other sources argue that brutality in prisons is to a minimum. Evidence would indicate that Russian prisons are moderately harsher on inmates than American prisons.

            Climate conditions is a big factor in Russian prisons. Prisons in the outskirts of Russia such as those near Siberia are extremely cold and some prisons have no temperature controls. Stones, concrete, and ice surround the prison during winter climates. Temperatures drop below -40 degrees fahrenheit and the only way to keep warm is to wear layers (Parfitt, 2005). Although not as difficult as the Gulag era where prisoners would work in freezing temperatures digging at frozen dirt, extreme climates can make living conditions difficult (gulag.org). Unlike American prisons where civil rights groups have fought for safe conditions, most Russian prisons are based on the notion of the Gulag.

            Another issue in Russian prisons is violence. Testimony of abuse was reported to the National Public Radio News which argued that inmates were being tortured by prison guards (Feifer, 2008). The article testifies that such violence has occurred for centuries and if not stopped, will spread to other systems of government. Human Rights groups argue that such torture prisons exist which are aimed to destroy men psychologically and drive inmates to suicide (Feifer, 2008). Prison authorities deny any allegations of torture by explaining that government officials constantly monitor prisons and investigate any complaints (Feifer, 2008). In 2010, Russian Billionaire Mikhail Khordokovsky told the Foreign Policy News Company about the harsh conditions he suffered thorough in a Siberian prison (Hounshell, 2010). The article continues to explain how the prisons use stronger elite inmates to keep order among other inmates by using brutal force (Hounhell, 2010).

            In contrast, Russian Profile released a video explaining how structured, clean, and safe Russian prisons were. Butyrka prison is known in Russia as Alcatraz is known in the United States. Butyrka has help many famous leaders and has been known for its violent and harsh conditions. Butyrka is now known as a detention center and testimony by inmates contradict stories of violence and poor health (russianprofile, 2011). The video explains that the prison has a restaurant where inmates can choose what they want to eat and testimony also explains that inmates find the prison in better conditions than their communities (russianprofile, 2011).

            Its apparent that there is more evidence to support violent conditions of prisons than their is to deny them. Prisons were not meant to be easy, but insufferable conditions of prisons are violations to civil rights. In regards the the video explaining how clean and productive Butyrka prison is, the information would be acceptable if different conditions were present while the footage was taken. It is not known whether or not guards intimidated or forced inmates to lie about the safe conditions in Butyrka prison or whether the statements are true. Piacentini (2006) argues that no regions of Russian are alike, and due to the fall of the Soviet Power, prisons adopted different forms of punishment. Western Russian prisons leaned more towards rehabilitation of  inmates while prisons in the outskirts of Russian leaned more towards punishment (Piacentini, 2006). Piacentini explains that another issues regarding whether or not prisons are humane is funding, no funding equals inmates bartering for necessities. Overall, Russian prisons are not similar to American prison, but one factor that should be taken into consideration when deciding conditions of prisons is the fact that Russian history has always been of communist control.

References

Feifer, Gregory. (2008). Former Inmates Allege Russian Torture Prisons. NPR National Public             Radio News. Public Broadcasting PBS

Gulag History. (2011). Soviet Formed Labor Camps and Struggle for Freedom. Gulaghistory.org.             www.gulaghistory.org/nps/

Hounshell, Blake. (2010). What are Russian Prisons Like. Foreign Policy News Company.             Division Washington Post. Dec 28, 2010.

Parfit, Tom. (2005). Welcome to Penal Colony Yag 14/10 Now he home of Riches Russian. The             Guardian. October 25, 2005.

Piacentini, Laura., and Pleshkova, Olga. (2006). Surviving Russian Prisons, Economy and             Politics in Trasition by Laura Piacentini. Human Rights Law Review. Nottingham:2006.             6(1).

Russian Profile. (2011) Touring Russia’s Legendary Butyrka Prison. Russian Profile.org             Unwrapping the mystery inside the enigma. Video. 4--2011