Well even in Norway, the prison in the article is not the norm, it is the exception. >Inmates do not start their sentences at Bastoy. They must do time in a co

Well even in Norway, the prison in the article is not the norm, it is the exception. >Inmates do not start their sentences at Bastoy. They must do time in a conventional lockup and apply to be transferred, having convinced the authorities that they wish to reform. I work with a lot of criminals. In my experience, many times, the ones that go to jail go there because they really are bad people and have no wish to reform. It would be very difficult to change and reform these people just with outside intervention. However, for the ones with a genuine wish to reform, it would be nice to get them into a facility like this. I guess the real problem is there is no real easy solution for how to deal with bad people. I think there needs to be a mixed solution that takes into account the individual and their wish to reform. And really from that perspective, we do have many similar institutions in the West, like half way houses and various criminal rehabilitation programs.