What Are The Similarities Between Norwegian And American Prisons

Sterbenz, Christina. “Why Norway’s Prison System Is so Successful.” Business Insider. Business Insider, 11 Dec. 2014. Web. 13 Apr. 2017.

Prison life in both countries probably only differs little due to the prison that you are locked up in to the people that make the laws. For everything else how you have to watch your back and the groups that inmates will place themselves with for protection this does not change just from country to country you will see remains the same.

While reading about jails, I learned the two main types of local facilities which are lockups and state operated jails. Lockups is station in the police department and intended for very short term holding. And stated operated jails which are combined by jails and prisons. Jails held people who commit minor violations like misdemeanors and felony. Prisons and jails have changed over time, from the restrictions to housing. The difference between jails and prisons is that jails are run by county or town, and they are only used to temporarily detain people who are suspected of people who have convicted a crime. Basically jail is used for a short period of time, jails hold those who are waiting on a trial or those who have convicted of low level offenses and have sentence for a year or less. Jails function work release programs and boot camps. Something interesting is that jails address issues; For example, educational needs, substance abuse needs, and vocational needs. On the other hand, prisons is the facility that holds convicts who have committed crimes. After being declare guilty by the judge, defendants who have long term sentence are usually the ones who go to prison. For example, drunk driving or first degree murder. Prisons operate halfway houses, work release, and community restitution. Similarities of jails and

Joe is a prisoner in a United States penitentiary convicted of assault with a deadly weapon and attempted robbery. Johan is a prisoner in a Norwegian Correctional Facility also convicted of assault with a deadly weapon and attempted robbery. After eight years of serving their time in custody, they are released back out into society, the world beyond their prison walls. During the following month after their release, Joe has once again been arrested for assault and attempted robbery while Johan has started making a quiet living as a deckhand on the coast for a small fishing company in Kopervik. Now both men have the same background and have come out of the same circumstances but yet only one reverts back to a life a crime, why?

In many countries national prisons are operated and supplemented by provinces and state counterparts. Prisoners are held in prisons and jails throughout the country and globally convicted of various crimes and offenses. The nature of the offense determines where the prisoner is held and the lengths of times. There are institutions that vary in level of security in both the state and federal prison system. However, the majority of prisoners are sentenced and housed in state facilities in high security facilities.

of crimes. The purpose of this paper is to discuss and outline the differences among jails

prisons are different. The jail system is a short-term facility where inmates are confined until

While state prison systems is meant to house criminal like rapists, murder convicts as well as people who are convicted of violent gun offenses, Federal prison system has been designed for housing criminal convicted of violating Federal laws, for example immigration violators, robbers of federally chartered banks and large-scale drug.

In contrast, Hernu’s story “Norway’s Ideal Prison” from One World, Many Cultures talks about the world’s first human “Ecological Prison” on Bastoy Island, Norway. Bastoy Prison is Norway’s largest low-security prison. On the island murders and other violent felons are found, but the guards trust them with knives, chainsaws, and other weapons. “‘I have not had one violent incident here,’ the governor continues. ‘One inmate did managed to escape by stealing a fishing boat one night, and his punishment was to be sent back to a closed prison’” (Hernu 247). Bastoy prison is pretty lenient, and laid back when it comes to prisoners but if you break any of the rules you will be sent back immediately. Frank, a cattle herder said, “‘…For the first time in my life I feel motivated and believe in myself. I really believe I can break my circle of crime’” (Hernu 250). The results Bastoy Prison has produced shows that the “Ecological Prison” does work.

“Rehabilitation Over Incarceration” is an essay written by a K-State student on the issue of prisoners being rehabilitated back into the real world/ rather than imprisoning, rehabilitating into society. The writer focuses on Norway’s prison system versus the United States as well as education between prisoners in the two country’s systems. Next, the writer focuses on the values of educating the U.S. prisoners, including benefits as well as outlined cost to do so. Lastly, the student asks us the why portion which includes statistics on ethnicities in colleges and universities (1-9).

The prisons in America seem to cause more problems than assistance in today's society. The country's penal system is overcrowded, expensive, and some argue that is ineffective as well as inefficient. The costs to staff and support these facilities increase dramatically every year. Prisons, which are supposed to be correctional facilities, are currently filled with violence and hostility. These institutions are created to control crime by deterrence, incapacitating criminals, which protects society from potentially dangerous criminals, but it is hard to tell if this is being accomplished.

Private prisons have a monetary incentive to keep their prison filled to the max (Mason, Too Good to be True Private Prisons in America). Public prisons on the other hand spend more money and effort on rehabilitation efforts and reintroducing people back into society in a healthy manner. One way in which private prisons reduce costs is by cutting the amount of training and pay prison staff are given as well as the number of staff which in turn leads to a less safe prison. The statistics point to an increase in riots, inmate violence, and even assault on prison staff (Mason, Too Good to be True Private Prisons in America). The quality of healthcare is another major issue in private prisons compared to public prisons and is one such reason why the amount of money spent per prisoner is less in private prisons (Smith, Why the U.S. Is Right to Move Away from Private Prisons). As well as spending less on those who need it, private prisoners do a certain amount of cherry picking taking only healthier and thus cheaper prisoners to hold within their \walls (Smith, Why the U.S. Is Right to Move Away from Private Prisons). Private prisons state innovation and creative methods as the reason for saving money as opposed to public prisons but there

"Everyone who is imprisoned inside Norwegian prisons will be released and will go back to society. We look at what kind of neighbour you want to have when they come out. If you stay in a box for a few years, then you are not a good person when you come out. If you treat them hard… well, we don't think that treating them hard will make them a better man. We don't think about revenge in the Norwegian prison system. We have much more focus on rehabilitation”, Guardian newspaper (2012).

Prisons and jails hold some similar characteristics but are completely different models in which they serve in the criminal justice system. Some of the types of crimes that America faces today are: violent crimes, property, white collar or organized crime, and public order crimes (Worrall, 2008). The criminal justice system sets the regulations and policies of how an offender will be held accountable for their inappropriate actions. The criminal justice system is a process that takes time and money from society. The following information will briefly discuss the main purposes for the jail and prison systems, which will focus on the length of sentencing, funding sources, and private sector ownership. Let’s begin by explaining the length of

With the population of the United States prisons growing every day we need to evaluate if they are doing any good. Personally, I believe that we need to keep our prison system, but we need to take steps in reforming them rather than abolish them altogether. The United States has the highest number of incarcerated people than any other country in the world. We must sit down and look at other countries and see what they are doing different than the United States. In this paper, we will first look at what the prison system in America is like and what we can do to improve upon our prison system. Then, we will also look at the Finland prison systems and see if we can learn anything from them, since they have one of the lowest incarceration and crime rate in the world. We will then look at reforming our prison system or abolishing it. Finally, we will investigate other punishment alternatives other than the prison system that we could use.