Photo: STR/Reuters/Landov.
Two men sit inside the chapel at Halden prison in far southeast Norway in this picture taken in 2010. Prisoners here spend 12 hours a day in their cells, compared to many U.S. prisons where inmates spend all but one hour in their cell. NPR’s 2015 story is here.
Some years ago (2016), I wrote about research on Norway’s humane prisons. In a December 2023 Christian Science Monitor article, Troy Aidan Sambajon shows that some US prisons are moving in the same direction. Or at least testing the concept.
“Earlier this year,” he reports, “California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced a new vision for the San Quentin State Penitentiary, centered on rehabilitation and job training, inspired by another prison system that has halved its recidivism rate – in Norway. …
“About 2 out of 3 Americans released from jails and prisons per year are arrested again, and 50% are re-incarcerated, according to the Harvard Political Review. In Norway, that rate is as low as 20%.
‘It has everything to do with your social safety net, your network, your support structure, and your job opportunities.’
“As more U.S. states seek to improve their correctional systems, the Norwegian model could prove key. It aims to create a less hostile environment, both for people serving time and for prison staff, with the goal of more successfully helping incarcerated people reintegrate into society. …
“ ‘Overcrowding, violence, and long sentences are common in U.S. prisons, often creating a climate of hopelessness for incarcerated people, as well as people who work there,’ says Jordan Hyatt, associate professor of criminology and justice studies at Drexel University. Correctional employees experience some of the highest rates of mental illness, sleep disorders, and physical health issues of all U.S. workers, a 2018 Lexipol report found. …
“Making a prison environment more humane will translate to a more efficient prison system overall, experts say. And the Norwegian model prioritizes rehabilitation and reintegration over punishment. Safety, transparency, and innovation are considered fundamental to its approach. Core practices aim to create a feeling that life as part of a community continues even behind walls and bars, says Synøve Andersen, postdoctoral research criminologist at the University of Oslo.
“In some Norwegian prisons, incarcerated people wear their own clothes, cook their own meals, and work in jobs that prepare them for employment, says Dr. Andersen. They have their own space, too, since single-unit cells are the norm. …
“While they are separated from society, incarcerated people should experience normal, daily routines so they can have increased opportunities to reform without being preoccupied with fear of violence from other inmates, she argues.
“The principle of dynamic security means correctional officers also must have more complex social duties besides safety and security, including actively observing and engaging with the prison population, understanding individuals’ unique needs, calculating flight risks. …
“Washington state’s Lt. Lance Graham works within restricted housing and solitary confinement units, an environment he says lacks empathy and connection with those incarcerated. ‘We never had the opportunity to connect with the people in our care.’
“But when visiting Norway’s isolation units, he saw [that] their staff was much more engaged with the prison population and was much happier.
“ ‘This program really promotes staff wellness, changing the relationship that you have with the people in your care,’ says Lieutenant Graham. ‘So you’re not going to have as many instances of fight or flight syndrome in your daily work. You reach common ground and talk like normal folks.’
“ ‘If you actually want to change the prison environment, invest in staff,’ says Dr. Andersen. ‘They’re there all the time. They’re doing the work.’
“Amend, a nonprofit from the University of California, San Francisco, partnered with four states – California, South Dakota, Oregon, and Washington – to introduce resources inspired by Norwegian principles and sponsor educational trips to Norway for U.S. correctional leaders.
“At California’s San Quentin, Governor Newsom hopes to emphasize inmate job training for high-paying trades such as plumbers, electricians, or truck drivers. … In Washington state, prison staff began developing supportive working relationships with the incarcerated in their care by developing individual rehabilitation plans. … In North Dakota, former Director of Corrections Leann Bertsch says after revamping the training and responsibilities of prison officers, interactions between staff and inmates felt respectful and calmer. …
“The Pennsylvania Department of Corrections collaborated with the Norwegian Correctional Services to pilot Little Scandinavia, a transformed housing unit operated at half the regular capacity to allow for individual cells. The on-duty officers at Little Scandinavia have reported enjoying their work much more now and there haven’t been any reports of violence since its opening in May 2022, says Dr. Andersen.
“Norway receives much attention for its low rate of recidivism, but some experts disagree on the measure as a rate of success. ‘[Recidivism] is not just a product of the correctional system. It has everything to do with your social safety net, your network, your support structure, and your job opportunities,’ said Dr. Andersen.”
More at the Monitor, here.
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