Posted: Jun 24, 2018 11:20 am
It has long been suggested[by whom?] that corrections policies have ignored the difficulties faced by offenders who reenter society. For example, a 2011 study found that harsh prison conditions, including isolation, tended to increase recidivism, though none of these effects was statistically significant.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recidivism
I seem to recall that Norway has relatively low recidivism rates, and this was attributed to the "lovely" prison conditions. It seems more likely to me that their lower recidivism rates are due to having, at base, a relatively left leaning socialist inclusive socioeconomic climate with low inequality. Their royal family live like normal citizens, for example. They also have a low rate of first time offending. I reckon if their prisons were hell holes too they'd have even less crime and recidivism, but unfortunately their kind hearted approach permeates into their prison system resulting in a soft touch. Thoughts?