Halden Prison took 10 years to build and cost 23 million dollars. It contains en-suite bathrooms, Banksy-style art and windows without bars.

Halden prison, ‘the most humane jail in the world’, houses 252 inmates, many of whom have committed violent felonies such as murder, robbery and rape.

Each cell has a flat-screen TV, fridge, en-suite bathroom and barless windows. There is communal space for every 12 rooms, with a top-spec kitchen and a comfy lounge.

Norway has a very low crime rate; its current prison population is 3,300 or 69 citizens per 100,000. Halden Prison opened on 8 April, 2010 and is Norway’s second largest prison.

The humanistic philosophy of Norway’s penal system is that repressive prison environments do not work.

They believe that treating prisoners humanely improves their chances of rehabilitation.

“In our prison system, there’s a focus on human rights and respect”, said prison governor Are Hoidal.

According to Times Magazine, “the facility boasts amenities like a sound studio, jogging trails and a freestanding two-bedroom house where inmates can host their families during overnight visits.”

Also, Halden tries to avoid an institutional design. “Exteriors are not concrete but made of bricks, galvanized steel and larch; the buildings seem to have grown organically from the woodlands.”

“None of us were forced to work here, we chose to,” said Charlott-Renee Sandvik Clasen, a prison music teacher and a member of Halden’s jail-guard chorus.

“Our goal is to give all the prisoners – our pupils – a meaningful life within these walls.”

Analysts believe it is the warmth, not the expensive TV sets, that will likely have the most lasting impact.

Different countries studies of recidivism have proved that the Norwegian model works.

Figures show that within two years of their release that in the US and U.K. 50% to 60% of prisoners return to incarceration, while in Norway the amount a much lower number of 20%.

“When they arrive, many of them are in bad shape”, the prison governor says, Are Hoidal.

“We want to build them up, give them confidence through education and work and have them leave as better people.”

via Momento 24.