B y t h e t ime t h etrumpets sound, the candleshave been lit and the salmonplatters garnished. Harald V,King of Norway, enters theroom, and 200 guests standto greet him. Then a chorusof 30 men and women,each wearing a blue police uniform, launches into a spirited rendition of “WeAre the World.” This isn’t cabaret night at Oslo’s Royal Palace. It’s a galato inaugurate Halden Fengsel, Norway’s newest prison.
Ten years and 1.5 billion Norwegian kroner ($252 million) in themaking, Halden is spread over 75 acres (30 hectares) of gently sloping forestin southeastern Norway. The facility boasts amenities like a sound studio,jogging trails and a freestanding two-bedroom house where inmates canhost their families during overnight visits. “In the Norwegian prison system,there’s a focus on human rights and respect,” says Are Hoidal, the prison’sgovernor. “We don’t see any of this as unusual.”
Halden, Norway’s second largest prison, with a capacity of 252inmates, opened on April 8. It embodies the guiding principles of the country’s penal system:
that repressive prisons donot work and that treatingp r i s o n e r s h uma n e l yboosts their chances ofreintegrating into society.
Countries track recidivismrates differently, but evenan imperfect comparison suggests the Norwegian model works. Within twoyears of their release, 20% of Norway’s prisoners end up back in jail. In theU.K. and the U.S., the figure hovers between 50% and 60%. Of course, alow level of criminality gives Norway a massive advantage.
Design plays a key role in Halden’s rehabilitation efforts. To avoid aninstitutional feel, exteriors are not concrete but made of bricks, galvanizedsteel and larch; the buildings seem to have grown organically from thewoodlands.
The cells rival well-appointed college dorm rooms, with their flat-screenTVs and minifridges. Designers chose long vertical windows for the roomsbecause they let in more sunlight. There are no bars. Every 10 to 12 cells sharea living room and kitchen. With their stainless-steel countertops, wraparoundsofas and birch-colored coffee tables, they resemble Ikea showrooms.
There’s plenty of enthusiasm for transforming lives. “None of us wereforced to work here. We chose to,” says Charlott-Renee Sandvik Clasen,a music teacher in the prison and a member of Halden’s security-guardchorus. “Our goal is to give all the prisoners — we call them our pupils — ameaningful life inside these walls.” It’s warmth like that, not the expensivetelevision sets, that will likely have the most lasting impact.
