Prison paradise: In Norwegian open prisons murders & rapists lead the good life

wow, very interesting article...good catch. i think how you treat your prisoners says a lot about your culture/society. clearly, norway has profound respect for all human life no matter the circumstance.

for a shocking contrast, check out how Japan treats their death-row inmates: http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/japan/090922/death-row-japanese-style

Wow that sounds better than a resort...

"In Norway, even murders and rapists ----have a shot---- at landing in "open prison.""

Have a shot being the key words, and read this next part. Murderers and rapists aren't just given a free ride.

"Inmates work between 8:15 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. The island is a farm, so there are cattle to tend, timber to cut and organic crops to grow. Inmates also work at a sawmill, using axes, knives and saws. Another job is to restore wooden houses dotted around the island. Based on their time in Bastoey,-----many men will obtain professional qualifications.------"

Look at that! You mean the state is actually trying to make them -productive- members of society instead of facilitating their criminal habits like we do here?

By the way, we have programs like this too, and they work brilliantly.

That was actually a decent article too, read it before you post.

It's a far cry from Sherriff Arpaio's gulag in Arizona with the pink jumpsuits, hideous food and torture.

Try to get off the island and you will get shot, Im sure.

what is the rat of repeat offenders? that will tell you if the system is working.

Our homeless don't have it this good. Now that I mention it, I DON'T HAVE IT THIS GOOD! Makes me want to go there and commit some victimless crime so I can have a decent vacation for once!!

Murderers and rapists should be smoked on the spot. They do not deserve to be treated this way.

How do they treat their homeless or does Norway not have homeless?

I hope it's not all fun and games and there's rehabilitation involved.

As an American living in Sweden, I've learned a thing or two about human civility.

Norway, a country very much like Sweden has adopted a very un American - like view.

These countries reflect on the defendants rather than the victims. I learned all my life the victims and the families of the victims deserve to be made whole, or at least feel that justice has been served. In Norway, they believe that an examination of society is the proper course of action. Why did this happen? What did we do or did not do in our society to cause this terrible event to occur.

A very foreign thought indeed but it speaks about a society like Norway and Sweden who practice this type of rehabilitation.

Something to think about as a society, especially in the United States

<a href="http://www.worldphoto360.com">World Traveler Reviews 360° </a>

i am committing some crimes in Norway... i mean you probably don't have to pay taxes either, since you broke the law and are in "prison". how much do they pay the inmates, i know American inmates get a bit of coin...

very progressive. new ideas for the twenty-first.. not bad.

Norway seems like a good society,I wonder what form of government is instituted there.

Does it work ?

While putting inmates to work is a good start, I think we can do even better. A solution to at least some ills of the prison society and our criminal element as well as illegal immigration could be refocusing the prison system towards cheap labor.

Why not farm out our inmates for cheap labor? They would work long days doing labor intensive work such as farming, construction and the like. While working they would be kept out of the prisons where drugs and violence is prevalent, and learn the routine of work hours and the benefit of a good day's work. Additionally, the state could contract them for very cheap, cheaper maybe then illegal immigrants even. With a large work force ready, we could undercut illegal immigrants, thereby solving another problem.

With inmates just sitting in prison, setting aside the few that get degrees, they are a complete waste of money. Sure it is harsh, and certainly a punishment, but when they get out, it's hardly rehabilitation.

Given the percentage of our population that is now currently incarcerated I don't know how anybody with a reasoning mind could embarrass themselves by saying that our system is working. When you compare the murders per capita the United States ranks 24th Norway ranks 54th
http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/cri_mur_percap-crime-murders-per-capita
given the numbers I'd say their method is doing one Hell of a better job than ours

Wow. it is very interesting. If something like this happened in America, tons of people would be committing crimes to take a little vacation away from their life.

While I do not support rewarding criminals with the spa treatment... I think that our prison systems in the USA are far worse than this.

Where people who are not violent or sex offenders have to share quarters with those who are.

Leading to the inevitable rape and abuse that is NOT part of their sentence.

There truly needs to be a middle ground here where the punishment fits the crime without allowing all of the assaults that occur every hour of every day in U.S. Institutions.

It is easy to point at this prison and criticize how leisurely it is, but our systems are on the opposite end of the spectrum and are complete over kill. We are not rehabilitating anyone. We are turning people who made a mistake out to the wolves and creating hardened, ruthless men out of average citizens.

I think what the article really shows it that in Scandinavia prisons are being seen as part of society and are geared towards enabling the re-integration of convicts, whereas it seems to me in the US prison system we follow the old testament approach of revenge, preferably excluding a convict from society for good. You decide which one you prefer. I think however, the overall crime rates in both countries speak for themselves.

Sammy I get/agree with your point, and whether or not you are a biblical scholar or an atheist is irrelevant. You are correct in that in the U.S. we are much more about punishment and retribution than the Scandinavian approach. I also agree with your suggestion to compare the prison populations of the two countries and draw your own conclusions as to which one works best. By prison populations we are of course speaking of the percentage of the total population not the raw numbers, for you nit pickers out there.

This ranks up there with the jihadi re-education "prisons" in Saudi Arabia.