I found this very interesting, it details Norway's judicial/prison system and compares it to the United States. Kei: [quote]I have done case studies on Norwegian prisons and written reports on them, and I think I would like to offer a few more tidbits of information that the Time article did not adequately cover, if you would not mind. ^_^; -Norway does not have a death sentence or a life sentence. The longest possible single prison sentence is twenty-one years (exception is thirty years for crimes against humanity). However, release is generally dependent on a psychiatric evaluation of the inmate in question. Should the psychiatric team feel that the prisoner in question is unfit to return to society, or will still pose a threat to those around him/her after release, it is possible to postpone the release of said prisoner until the next psychiatric evaluation. As this process may be repeated indefinitely, this is the closest thing Norway has to a life sentence. -These are not the only prisons that Norway has. In fact, Norway does have facilities that resemble conventional prisons, complete with bars and cells, which are generally reserved for more dangerous criminals (although it should be noted that precisely how the Norwegian justice system defines "more dangerous" is a question of debate, given that even murderers and rapists generally go to the rehabilitation facilities that Norway is famous for). For example, Anders Behring Breivik was sent to Ila Prison, a more conventional prison facility, although he has currently been transferred to Skien Prison pending reconstruction at Ila. -The primary goal of the Norwegian justice system is rehabilitation, not punishment. The intent is to ensure persons can return to society as a safe, healthy, and productive member, not someone who ends up resentful and dangerous (because medieval society had much harsher punishments, such as torture, for many different crimes, and it isn't as if crime rates were very low in the past). Inmates work regularly with psychiatrists, counselors, and legal teams so that they understand what it is they did wrong, why it was wrong, how they would make amends, and that they'd be accepted by society against once they leave prison. -Another primary goal of the Norwegian justice system is to avoid the shortcomings of the American system. The United States places even petty criminals in normal prisons, which has the very unfortunate side-effect of putting inmates guilty of petty misdemeanors alongside hardened, professional criminals, making it far more likely that small-time or one-time criminals eventually become career criminals. By isolating people who "made mistakes" from "people who make a living out of crime" into different facilities, Norway avoids encouraging recidivism (repeat offenses) amongst small-time or one-time offenders. -Rehabilitation goes hand-in-hand with "not making the inmates feel like crap". Many of the inmates at these rehabilitation facilities are those who committed crimes of passion, or faced difficult life circumstances; psychologically, these facilities are meant to give them a sense of worth and to encourage the idea that they actually still mean something. This is why they are given productive tasks in prison combined with leisure activities, to make it feel like they are still contributing to the community, and - as the Time article mentioned above - to keep them occupied. -Upon release, the government and the community works to reintegrate former criminals back into the community. Whereas former inmates are openly regarded with mistrust, Norwegian criminals generally manage to avoid the stigma with successful government-community partnership that allows the person to "settle back in". Said former inmate is more likely to find another job after leaving prison than a former inmate in, say, the United States, providing financial incentive to prevent him or her from re-offending. -Norway's justice system has come under attack by some right-wing critics, especially in the U.S., for providing "slap-on-the-wrist" punishments to criminals guilty of crimes as major as murder and -blam!-. However, with the U.S. focusing on simply punishing criminals, and with Norway intent on minimizing crime and repeat offenses, the contrast is startling. Recidivism rates in the U.S. are as high as 67.5%, but repeat offenders in Norway are as low as 20%. So far, evidence seems to indicate that rehabilitation works to secure a safer society, and is a better alternative to simply punishing criminals. [/quote] What do you think?