“Every inmate in a Norwegian prison is going back to the society. Do you want people who are angry — or people who are rehabilitated?” ~ Are Hoidel, Director of Norway’s Halden Prison.

A Revolutionary Model

While the typical prison in the U.S. relies heavily on concrete, coils of razor wire, barren land free of any trees or plant life and lethal electric fences, along with towers manned by snipers, a maximum security correctional facility two hours north of Oslo, Norway has stunned Americans. Regarded as the world’s most humane prison, Halden is a maximum security facility filled with rapists, murderers, pedophiles and drug offenders. And yet, the compound is a far cry from what we would expect such a prison to be.

Each inmate has their own room, complete with flat screen television, bathroom, mini-fridge — and no bars on the windows. There’s a range of vocational programs like wood-working, assembly workshops and even a recording studio. Normalcy is the key, where friendships between guards and inmates are common and fully equipped kitchens are available for most to use. High-quality art peppers the complex and shared living rooms serve to “create a sense of family.” However, as important as the actual design of the facility is in reducing violence and improving rehabilitation, the security within the prison plays an exceptionally crucial role as well.

One of the main differences between the staff at Halden and a maximum security prison in the U.S. is that Norway emphasizes “dynamic security,” whereas America favors “static security”. The latter relies on remote controlled doors and surveillance cameras, an environment designed to limit vandalism or weapon-making by utilizing tamper-proof furniture, and correction officers who are trained to have very little interaction with prisoners to reduce the risk of altercation. In contrast, dynamic security is structured to prevent harmful intentions in the first place.

The officers at Halden are placed in close quarters with the inmates to support casual socialization between the two — many times over tea and coffee or meals. “The architects were instructed to make the guard stations tiny and cramped, to encourage officers to spend time in common rooms with the inmates instead,” reports the New York Times. While there are surveillance cameras on the prison grounds, inmates usually are able to move around unaccompanied by guards. Nor are there cameras in most of the workshops, classrooms, common rooms, cell hallways or the cells themselves. The inmates have ample opportunity to act out, but don’t. Halden is six-years-old and in that time, the isolation cell with a limb-restraining bed has yet to be used.

To read more of Carolanne Wright's article, please click here.