A multitude of controversy surrounds incarceration in the USA, from racial biases (see Michelle Alexander's "The New Jim Crow") to the way offenders are treated in prison and when they re-enter mainstream society. Comparing the United States prison system to other progressive countries, like Norway, sheds a shocking light on the injustice of the entire procedure.
1. Inhumane conditions vs. fair treatment:
We've all seen movies that portray prisons and television shows that take us inside actual prisons. And we see recurrent images: Barbed-wire-topped fences, concrete walls, minuscule cells, and terrifying solitary confinement chambers. Prisoners claim they are treated like animals because no one bothers to recognize their humanity.
They are considered dangerous and not given the benefit of the doubt.
In Norway, prisoners are treated like human beings. They have three living cells, they attend workshops and have access to professional healthcare. Prisons in Norway operate Restorative Justice Programs, in which prisoners are given their fair shot at rehabilitation and opportunities for schooling. Prisons in Norway are preparing offenders for re-entry into society and trust in the brain's capability for change, rather than simply punishing the prisoners like the US. Due to these restorative programs, there is only a 20 percent chance of a return to prison, one of the lowest rates in the world.
2. High re-incarceration rates vs. stable society:
In the United States, 76.6 percent of released prisoners are re-arrested within five years of their release. This is largely due to the way ex-offenders are treated when they leave prison.
They have difficulty finding employment, housing, and they can't even vote until two years after completed parole or probation.
They are ostracized from mainstream society and fall back into cycles of crime that send them back to prison. There is a definite struggle to re-enter society because they were never given the tools to do so. There was never an emphasis on their rehabilitation like there is in Norway. US society shuns ex-offenders and continues to treat them inhumanely even after they leave prison, alienating them and preventing them from being functional members of society.
The goal for prison reform in the USA should be to rehabilitate prisoners and help them re-enter society, not punish them and set them up for cycles of crime and re-incarceration. Much can be learned from the way Norway handles the prison system, but is the USA capable of that kind of change?
