Writing Assignment #1

Knowledge Claims - Recognising different perspectives

The Radical Humaneness of

Norway’s Halden Prison
The goal of the Norwegian penal system is to get
inmates out of it.
By JESSICA BENKO•MARCH 26, 2015

Like everything else in Norway, the tw-o--hour drive southeast from Oslo seemed
impossibly civilized. The highways were perfectly maintained and painted, the signs
clear and informative and the speed--monitoring cameras primly intolerant. My
destination was the town of Halden, which is on the border with Sweden, straddling a
narrow fjord guarded by a 17th--century fortress.
To anyone familiar with the American correctional system, Halden seems alien. Its
modern, cheerful and well--appointed facilities, the relative freedom of movement it
offers, its quiet and peaceful atmosphere — these qualities are so out of sync with the
forms of imprisonment found in the United States that you could be forgiven for doubting
whether Halden is a prison at all. It is, of course, but it is also something more: the
physical expression of an entire national philosophy about the relative merits of
punishment and forgiveness.

In your writing try to use ToK language and concepts:

Give me your opinion thesis about the topic presented in the article and then try to recognize
the role of different factors which influence your opinion.

● The Ways of Knowing - Emotion, Reason, Language, Imagination, Intuition, Sense

Perception, Faith & Memory
● Factors that affect - positively and negatively - how we think: Authority, Social
pressure, Culture, Education, Media, Experience, Evidence etc
● Other Factors that help to shape our views: Assumptions, Opinions, Beliefs, Bias &
Prejudice etc
● Consider the role of Evidence as it is used to support or challenge a claim

Write below the line.

______________________________________________

In my personal opinion, the Norwegian prison system is quite well founded, as it has
undergone assessment and reform by the Norwegian justice system and is currently proven
to be a good method of rehabilitation for inmates with focus on re-entry into society as a
functioning member. However, I think that this system is only applicable to Nordic countries
and may provide good results for other countries. This is due to the fact that cultures are
differing, and people have different mindset on the concepts of incarceration and
penalisation. In Norway, Janteloven – an unwritten code of conduct which focuses on equity
and advocates against doing things out of the ordinary is present. Henceforth, the prison
system is more likely to lean towards being designed to focus on providing equity towards
inmates, and help them back on track into a society where supposedly ‘no one is better than
anyone else’ In addition, the concept of ‘better out than in’ is also present in Norwegian
incarceration systems and therefore producing a high degree of trust in an individual to
behave and act in a ‘socially acceptable’ manner in society, thus a seemingly more relaxed
prison system as a whole, which focuses on rehabilitation instead of penalisation. However,
my opinion on Nordic prison is fairly biased, as I did not grow up in a society which has a
high degree of trust, and focuses on integration of all peoples, therefore I would tend to think
that the prison system is only applicable to Nordic countries, and not necessarily other
countries such as my own. In addition, there is a perception that Nordic countries are
seemingly safer, and have much less serious crimes (such as mass shootings, robberies
etc.) This is due to the framing effect, as the media does not often portray Nordic countries
as ‘dangerous’ or have a high crime rate. This is also due to a social bias, where Noridc
countries are perceived to be socially stable, peaceful and have a high quality of living, when
in fact there is little understanding of the day-to-day life of an average Nordic. Furthermore, I
assumed that the concept of Janteloven is strongly evident in Nordic societies, which led me
to think that the Nordic prison system was reassessed to fit Nordic social norms.
In the article, Benko uses intuition and sense perception to make the claim that Nordic
prisons are ‘radically humane’. She finds it quite surprising that a maximum security prison
would lack security features such as coils of razor wire, and electrical fences. She perceives
this to be a place of lesser security than what she may be used to in the US, as she sees
less objects of surveillance around the prison. Furthermore, Benko claims that the facility is
‘Modern, cheerful and (has) well appointed facilities’ Here is a clear example of hindsight
bias, as she compares Halden to her memory of prisons in the US.

Furthermore, Benko uses sense perception and reasoning to match her description of a
prisoner when she talks to Tom. Confirmational bias is evident, as she describes him to have
a ‘hoarse voice’ and various explicit tattoos which are stereotypical of a typical offender and
outcast of society. She further claims that ‘members of rival gangs agree not to fight inside,
though the promise doesn’t extend to after their release’. Here Benko uses emotion and
sense perception to portray a sense of peace inside the prison. Due to the stark contrast
from US prisons which are often portrayed as violent, Benko finds it special that inmates are
encouraged to resolve conflicts by themselves, thus presenting in a way which portrays
Halden to be a beneficial place for inmates.

Moreover, Benko claims that Dynamic security focuses on preventing bad intentions from
developing in the first place. She uses her sense perception and reasoning to deduce why
prison guards are encouraged to socialise with inmates, and sense the lack of surveillance.
Therefore, leading her to present the Nordic prisons to be more open and emphasize on
social interaction between inmates and guards.

In conclusion, it is evident that Benko’s article presents Noridc prisons as a radically different
prison system, contrary to popular belief.

I am not fully finished.