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SkyBurn
11-05-2014, 11:07 AM
The starting point of the whole series was to ask some fundamental questions regarding the so called Nordic welfare model, and the Nordic society. It has by and large been hailed as a great success story, and when you look at several statistics regarding quality of life, generally speaking, the Nordic countries are more often than not in the top tier. We wanted to question how we run our society. What values do we have? How do we live our lives here up north? The method we wanted to use was simple; offer a global perspective on these issues. Therefore, each episode has a theme of its own. We invite a guest from another country, which in general has another viewpoint. How does she/he experience the Nordic model?

Norway has the lowest re-offence rate in Europe, which seems almost counter-intuitive in the whole idea of "negative reinforcement" for criminal behaviour. Some might say that "treat humans like animals and they become animals", while others might argue that criminals do not deserve a jail more beautiful than most peoples' homes.

So, what do you believe the purpose of the penitentiary system should be? Punishment or Rehabilitation? Ideally, I'd like to say both, but I still can't wrap my head around the Norwegian system - it seems crazy! haha


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2g56susrNQY

King Claus
11-05-2014, 11:08 AM
your link doesn't work

SkyBurn
11-05-2014, 11:09 AM
your link doesn't work

It should be fixed now.

Alenka
11-05-2014, 11:19 AM
I don't see the two as seperate. Even if you say the purpose is all about rehabilitation, it still is a punishment in the sense that the individuals right of free movement is taken away for a period of time. Even if the prison is a luxurious place they're still being held, they are there because they have to be and not because they want to be. If they weren't being punished they could've been some other place. If what you meant is actually uncomfortable prisons vs. comfortable prisons then I say the latter is better, simply because it seems to have better effects of preventing recidivism, judging by statistics.

Methmatician
11-05-2014, 11:34 AM
Mixed. Being in prison is the punishment, but prisoners should still be treated humanely if you don't want them to return.

TheBlondeSalad
11-05-2014, 11:35 AM
Rehabilitation.

Prisoners have done bad things, but this doesn't mean they are all round bad people (well, in most cases). They often come from bad and difficult upbringings, and it is no wonder they end up where they are. Prisons are difficult environments, and it is very common for someone to go in for a minor offence and then to get involved with the gang cultures etc in there and learn "tricks of the trade" and come out much worse and hardened, so to speak. The work and education programmes are great, but prisons are horribly overcrowded and there are only so many places on these programmes and so inevitably a lot of inmates cannot access them through no fault of their own. They end up bored, and boredom leads to nothing good. Also these work/education programmes let them earn privileges so that they become enhanced prisoners, so again they are denied this.

At the end of the day, these prisoners have done a crime and need to repay their debt to society. In my opinion, however, it is much better that, when they are released back in to society, they are able to contribute to it rather than be a further drain on resources.

Linebacker
11-05-2014, 11:43 AM
Prison is made for mental punishment by isolation,a good time to think about your life and what you did wrong.

The physical punishment part comes from the other inmates,and sometimes the guards,if you ask for it.

Incal
11-05-2014, 12:00 PM
Neither. To me prison should keep the bad elements away from the good ones.

SkyBurn
11-05-2014, 07:55 PM
Bump! What do you guys think of this Norwegian prison?

Geminus
11-05-2014, 08:32 PM
The Norwegian system may work well for Norway but probably isn't very likely to work in other countries: It seems very unimaginable in the USA with it's heterogenous population, gangs, gun violence etc.

wvwvw
11-05-2014, 08:38 PM
It depends on the age of the person, his background, the severity of his crime etc....Voted a mixture of the two.

Sikeliot
11-05-2014, 08:40 PM
Depending on the crime. In some instances it's more for detaining people who are a danger to society, and neither punishment NOR rehabilitation..

Drakoblare
11-05-2014, 08:42 PM
Depends on the crime. I do believe in humane treatment for people who did humane crimes, e.g theft. Rapists and serial killers should be treated like the animals they are.

Aviator
11-05-2014, 08:42 PM
Neither, I don't think crime should be met with punishment or rehabilitation, the goal should simply be to remove the criminal from society.

If whatever ends up happening to the criminal feels like a punishment to them, then so be it. But I don't think that we should set out with the goal of punishing criminals. We should just focus on removing them from our presence.

KawaiiKawaii
11-05-2014, 08:51 PM
Both. Jails have different functions, not just punishment or rehabilitation.
1) Protecting society from the criminal
2) Making the criminal pay his debts to society and the victim by taking away one of his right (in this case, freedom of movement)
3) Educating the criminal back to a crimeless life
(plus some other functions I couldn't think of now)

Anyway, jails should be humane, not first class nor filthy. With first class, the prisoner didn't really pay his debt, with filthy you risk making him even worse.

Edit: wanted to add that for some criminals, such as pedophiles or rapists (not sure about rapists), the chances of healing from their erratic behavior is close to zero, even with chemical castration (which apparently does not really work), so psychiatric jails are the only place to keep them.