Monday, March 30, 2015

Norway makes breakthroughs in recidivism rates. Is the use of their system feasible for use in the US? Probably not.

Source:

Summary:
This is a post to a public forum on Stanford University website. In it Nikola outlines a new luxurious prison being built in Norway. She believes that the Norwegian system of social reeducation through time served in lavish conditions with incentives geared toward education will not work in America. She claims that the maternal nature of the Norway makes coddling a better solution for them. The US, on the other hand, is more paternal and uses harsh discipline as incentive for the populous to live up to expectations. This, she believes, is why that particular system will not work for us.

Quality:
I found this post to be extremely informative as to the problems faced when looking at the justice systems in other countries with perspective towards integrating these systems into the United States. She uses many pieces of scientific data including the figures on the effect of affluence on recidivism per country. She effectively represents the power distance index (PDI) and the Gini coefficient to add validity to the points she is making (Hofstede). The strength of this paper should be credited to Nikola’s well rounded and thorough use of scientific method.  

Issues:
The presentation of Nikola’s post is too short to understand fully without further research. While she does present her topic clearly she neglects to encompass the strength of the science used to in her formulation of her conclusion

Quotes:
“'Architect Hans Henrik Hoilund claims that the ‘luxurious’ features of the prison are all necessary – geared at ensuring that inmates do not become re-offenders when they reenter society. “The most important thing is that the prison looks as much as the outside world as possible,” he noted, “To avoid an institutional feel, exteriors are not concrete but made of bricks, galvanized steel and larch; the buildings seem to have grown organically from the woodlands. And while there is one obvious symbol of incarceration – a 20-foot concrete security wall along the prison’s perimeter – trees obscure it. And its top has been rounded off, so it isn’t too hostile.'”

Keywords and Phrases:
Hofstede’s Power Distance Index, Gini Coefficient, Halden Prison, recidivism, scientific method. reentry, prison, recidivism rate, justice system,

Source link:

Works Cited:
Hofstede, G. (2011). Dimensionalizing Cultures: The Hofstede Model in Context. Online Readings in Psychology and Culture, 2(1). http://dx.doi.org/10.9707/2307-0919.1014





No comments:

Post a Comment