NORWAY PRISON SYSTEM

NORWAY PRISON SYSTEM

Summary

The film, “Where to Invade Next” is an American documentary movie directed and produced by Michael Moore in 2015. In the documentary film, Moore travels through several countries across the world. While touring the individual country, Moore notices differences in how each country had dealt with economic and social problems that, at present, impede the United States.

During Moore’s journey to discover economical and social measures that the United States could embrace, he visits Germany, France, Iceland, Tunisia, Finland, Portugal, and Norway. Some of the issues that Moore discourses are education, inmate treatment, worker benefits, and women’s rights. The documentary revealed the views of Moore and the citizens, ranging from the President to the middle-class workers. With the determination to persuade the United States government to embrace different practices, Moore visits countries around the world who have fixed social and economic issues and interviews citizens. However, the film fails to accurately present such issues fairly to all sides, despite interviewing citizens who range within the social class. Though the documentary film may have displayed how changing laws positively influenced the country, it fails to mention how the revisions have negatively impacted the public.

The documentary film did raise some topics that impacted my previous opinions of America’s laws and further educated me on the other countries’ present position on some issues. It’s evident that many of America’s laws affect the general public negatively; thus, these laws should be amended for the future civilians of the United States. The narrative, “Where to Invade Next,” was related to an incomparable amount of the content observed in our course. The entire film concentrated on the theory of functionalism, considering how components of a community are organized to maintain stability. Moore toured around the world and made a comparison of the dysfunctions in the United States, and that of the functioning societies around the world. The film explored topics with precise functions in mind, though concealed features were proven to be significant in creating a functioning society.

Norway Prison System

An excellent illustration of this would be Norway’s Prison System. Though convicts are in a humane prison system that reduced the recidivism rate, the inmates were also rehabilitated and mentally treated. Moore expresses both cultural relativism and ethnocentrism all through the documentary film as he is exposed to the values, practices, and beliefs of other cultures with the motive that their ways will diffuse to the United States.

Structure of Norway Prison System

One of the most captivating segment in the documentary was about Norway’s Prison System compared to the United States. In the film, Moore visited the maximum-security prison known as Halden Prison, and the minimum-security prison, Bastoy Prison. At the two prisons, he managed to learn about Norway’s approach to create a humane prison system. Norway’s criminal justice system was mainly motivated to rehabilitate inmates by using a restorative justice program while expressing the principles of the Eighth Amendment. The Eighth Amendment was established to “…prohibit cruel and unusual punishments…” (Jewell & Hendricks, 2017), which all Scandinavian countries intensely support.

Restorative Justice Program

Preceding to the 1968 establishment of the Norwegian Association for Criminal Reform (KROM), rehabilitation through disciplinary punishments has been the primary focus of Norway’s justice system. In the 1960s, the United States was an intermediate of the Vietnam War, and protests were spreading around the world against its position in the war. As a result, there were political protests against well-established institutions, including penitentiaries (Papendorf, 2006).

In 1966, a national meeting called “The Parliament of Thieves” resulted in the growing prison movements across Scandinavian countries was held (Mathiesen, 2014). For the first time, both ex-convicts and convicts were given a platform to confess their prison life experience to the press and the public. Resulting in the meeting, KROM was formed in 1968 with four major principles: professionalism, openness, respect, and commitment. Prior to the reformation, the justice system would medically treat the criminal, and the progress from the treatment would then be used to determine the amount of time the offender should be imprisoned. However, this system failed as Norway had a recidivism rate of 91% at the time. Slowly, the KROM abolished this system of treatment, along with forced labor camps and juvenile delinquency centers. This abolishment created a new method of treating criminals.

The success of Norway’s Prison System

Over the years, the philosophies on restorative justice have led to the success of Norway’s prison system. A study done by the US Department of Justice found that “cognitive-behavioral programs rooted in social learning theory” (McKim, 2014). This was significant in rehabilitating ex-convicts and keeping them out if jail. However, the documentary didn’t discourse that while judges can find only verdict criminals to a maximum of 21 years in prison, five years can be added, infinitely, at the end of the term to a convict’s sentence, if the convict still holds an immense risk of reoffending (de Graaf et al., 2013).

The theory of Collectivism

Most Norwegians agree with the restorative justice system since they follow the approach of collectivism. Following a study by Hofstede  Insight on culture dimensions, Norway was found to be the most feminine society. Therefore, this means social solidarity is highly valued. Some of the aspects of culture valued are consensus, cooperation, and empathy for others. Halden Prison Director had the thought of a provoking question, “Every inmate in Norwegian prison is going back to the society. Do you want people who are angry-or people who are rehabilitated?” (Sterbenz, 2014).  In conclusion, Norwegians refer the jail as a rehabilitation structure and thus support judicial system laws to retain a functioning society.

Factors affecting Influencing the United States Justice System

Contrary to Norway’s justice system approach, the United States system focuses on rehabilitation by the use of punishment. Statistically, America has the highest reoffending rates and also the largest prison population, globally. In 2014, a Human’s Rights Watch Report indicated that the strict justice system has led to prisons being filled with predominantly non-violent felons (Tucker, 2017). Therefore, this shows how America’s correctional facilities are diminishing their effectiveness compared to those Norway. As the American population increases over time, the rates of crime increases as well. Overpopulation is a huge problem to the justice system as there is a lack of infrastructure and righteousness. Economically, the overcrowding in prisons cannot be supported with enough money. Also, corruption in the American justice system ensured those with money to be treated better or not to be even convicted

After convicts are released from American prisons, there are minimum efforts done to ensure they get back to a “normal” life. The outlook on criminals in America is very negative compared to Norwegians. It’s reported that ex-convicts find it much difficult to secure jobs in America, leading them to be homeless since employers will no hire them due to criminal records. With a negative reputation, no support or position from the society forces the ex-convicts to go back to crime, and thus increasing the recidivism rate.

Trends in the America Justice system

Now in the 21^st century, significant movements such as #BlackLivesMatter and #EndPoliceBrutality have risen to criticize the harsh actions in the justice system in America (Bernabo, 2019). Despite such efforts, fewer measures have been implemented, and instead, more fights occurred. However, such movements are gaining much attention from both the government and the press.

Creating Change

In creating a more positive path for American citizens, the US government should adopt effective laws from other countries. American society is unbalanced as it does support only a few with power and money. Social reformers are advocating for a change in America and suggest to be supported using the funds used by the government on the military.  Some of the recommendations are to make family leave universally available, to provide world-class child care, to relieve students of academic debt, and provide better healthcare. To achieve adopting effective laws, America must be open to ideas and also change the mindsets.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the American law system has many liabilities, and thus there are many corrections and alternatives that can be implemented to the laws in the government. Implicating change in the legislation will create a more unified nation and also change the social system. Michael Moore’s film “Where to Invade Next?” provided information and solutions to America’s conflicts. Adopting Norway’s prison system can solve the justice system in America. If such laws are embraced, America could become a balanced nation.

References

Bernabo, L. (2019). Expanding television’s cultural forum in the digital era: Prime time television, Twitter, and Black Lives Matter. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 63(1), 77-93.

de Graaf, B. A., van der Heide, E. J., Wanmaker, S., & Weggemans, D. J. (2013). The Anders Behring Breivik Trial: Performing Justice, Defending Democracy. ICCT Research Papers.

Jewell, B., Fraser, E., & Hendricks, R. (2017). Restraints and Seclusion in US Public Schools: A Review of Existing Law, Policy, and Litigation. eJEP: eJournal of Education Policy.

Mathiesen, T. (2014). The politics of abolition revisited. Routledge.

McKim, A. (2014). Roxanne’s dress: Governing gender and marginality through addiction treatment. Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society, 39(2), 433-458.

Papendorf, K. (2006). ‘The Unfinished’ Reflections on the Norwegian Prison Movement. Acta Sociologica, 49(2), 127-137.

Tucker, R. B. (2017). The color of mass incarceration. ethn stud rev, 37(1), 135-149.