Norway and Germany Compared to US in Incarceration

There is one major difference between the sentencing and corrections policies of the US and the sentencing and corrections policies of Germany and the Netherlands. The former bases its policy on the ideas of retribution and incapacitation, whereas the latter base their policies on the ideas of rehabilitation and socialization (Vera Institute of Justice, 2013). This basic philosophical orientation towards the corrections is what distinguishes the two policies. The US views corrections as a punitive measure while Germany and the Netherlands view corrections in a positive light -- a measure that is designed to return the inmate to society. Indeed, recidivism rate in the US is 40% -- meaning that 4 out of every 10 inmates released will return to prison within the first three years (Vera Institute of Justice, 2013). In Germany and the Netherlands, such a rate is unheard of -- primarily because the corrections institutions do not treat the inmates like prisoners: instead they seek to respect them as human beings and give them a sense of society so as to instill in them the norms and values that society upholds. For this reason, the prisons in Germany and the Netherlands are so unlike the prisons in the US that the former barely resemble the concept when compared to American cells. This paper will compare and contrast the corrections and sentencing practices of the United States, Germany and the Netherlands and provide recommendations to the U.S. Sentencing Commission to address the problem of mass incarceration in America.

As the Michael Moore documentary on the prison system in Norway shows, European approaches to corrections are much milder than they are in the U.S. This is because the philosophical underpinnings of the prison system are polar opposites. In the US the prison system is run like a concentration camp. In Norway, the approach to law and order is much different: there is no death penalty in Norway, no life sentences, no armed police. An interview with Norway's State Philosopher is also very revealing: he shows that the country is forward-looking instead of consumed with the present, with the here-and-now, with the Me Generation. Norway wants to conserve its resources (it will spend its surplus but preserve its capital) so that future generations will benefit -- and this mentality is also realized in the country's approach to corrections. Those who break the law are viewed sympathetically rather than vilified or viewed as potential source of prison labor. They are viewed as in need of help. That is why their prison is a beautiful island where the prisoners dress in regular clothes, are housed in regular lodgings, wake themselves, make their own breakfast, go to work, and receive what amounts to counseling so that they can return to society normal, happy and healthy. Their prisoners operate ferries that go off the island, grow vegetables, and walk about freely. The only people in uniform are the guards.

This is a stark difference to how prisoners are treated in the US, where all inmates are clothed in jumpsuits -- usually bright orange -- that look ridiculous and dehumanize the inmates. Moreover, prisoners in the US have nowhere near the level of comfortable lodgings that prisoners in Norway have: they live in small cells, with bars -- have little access to natural light. They are treated as though they were animals that can't be trusted. The Norwegian island prison is just the opposite. One inmate who killed two people with a chainsaw was sentenced to 4 years: he came to the island and was fine -- he lived peacefully among the prisoners and even worked in the forest with a chainsaw. There were no incidents. The respect for life that is evident in the Norwegian prison is clear and palpable: life is connected to nature and to the outdoors so that there is a sense of rejuvenation in all the projects and in all the ways that prisoners can go about reviving themselves and becoming whole again. "If you treat people properly they may change their behavior and become ordinary citizens," the prison counselor explains in the Michael Moore documentary. In the US, there is no such prevailing opinion, attitude or philosophy at work in the corrections system. This may be one reason recidivism rates in the US are higher than they are in Germany and in the Netherlands. Another reason could be that the US measures recidivism differently than in Euorpe.

As the Vera Institute of Justice's paper on corrections highlights, "Germany and the Netherlands use different base populations" when it comes to measuring recidivism rates (Subramanian, Shames, 2013, p. 6). "Both countries usually look at all people sanctioned by a court, not just those released from prison" -- and additionally, "Germany and the Netherlands generally measure re-conviction, not just re-incarceration (which might not be for a new crime); and the follow-up time in Europe is variable, ranging from one to eight years" (Subramanian, Shames, 2013, p. 6). This shows that the two countries take a more humanistic approach to measure recidivism: they are not simply gauging whether a person has been put in prison again but whether a person has actually been convicted. Likewise, they are looking at the crime committed -- whether it was for something new or for the same thing as before. They are looking at each situation and each person uniquely and on a human level. In the US, inmates are viewed more like numbers -- like stats; there is a terribly impersonal and even prejudicial approach to how inmates are viewed in the US.

Sentencing is also different in Germany and the Netherlands than it is in the US. For instance, in Germany, crimes are divided into two categories, major and minor. While on the face of it, this corresponds with the American system of felony and misdemeanor categorization, it is actually much different. Crimes that are categorized as felonies in the US are not so seriously categorized in Germany. There is more leniency in the European countries. For this reason, the incarceration rates in the US are nearly ten times higher than what they are in Germany and the Netherlands (Subramanian, Shames, 2013, p. 7). At the same time, Germany makes use of mother-child units that support women who are pregnant so that they may obtain custody of their child post-release (Subramanian, Shames, 2013, p. 16). This is another example of the humane approach to incarceration that the European nations take, which is not really found in the American approach. Sentences are much lower in terms of number of years in Europe than they are in America, where one can be sentenced for decades for a non-violent crime such as selling marijuana.

Recommendations for the US are based on the Vera Institute's finding that "incarceration has a negative impact on long-term individual risk and community health" (Subramanian, Shames, 2013, p. 17). This is important to keep in mind because how prisoners are treated is not just something that impacts the prisoner; it impacts all of society. Therefore, it is recommended that prosecutorial discretion to divert offenders be better implemented in the US so that fewer incarcerations actually occur. Getting convicts to work outdoors, to be members of colonies like the one in Norway is an important step in rehabilitation. Community-based sanctions are another good idea that could have a positive effect on the US incarceration rate. Both Germany and the Netherlands make use of community-based sanctions for a wide array of crimes. In the US, such sanctions are also implemented but they are not implemented on a wide range of offenses. Prison is essentially an automatic result of conviction -- but as Europe shows it need not be.

In the US, prisons should also be reconfigured and reconceptualized. Disciplinary structures need to be reimagined and redefined so that prisoners are made to feel respected and like they matter. There is, at root, a cultural problem that needs to be addressed. For instance, solitary confinement will be used substantially and for long durations of time in the US, but only for a small amount of time in Europe. That is because prisoners are recognized as people who, like all humans, are social in nature. That means they need society and so keeping them apart is an inhuman activity that reinforces inhuman behavior. The idea of incarceration in Germany and the Netherlands is to educate the human side of the inmate so that he can return to society healthier than when he left it. In the US, this cultural aspect is lacking -- and it goes beyond the prison system. It is lacking in the mentality of the government, of law enforcement, of policy makers and of those who profit from the prison system (from corporations who use prison labor for productions to those who own and operate private prisons).

In conclusion, American prisons must put people before profits and stop seeing the prisoner as an animal who has misbehaved and must be punished. The more inhumanely prisoners are treated, the more it reinforces their own flawed nature. Germany and the Netherlands attempt to reinforce positive values by reconnecting the prisoner with social settings, the outdoors, nature, and a sense of self-respect. The prisoner is viewed as one who is in need of help -- and the prison, rather than being a place of punishment, is a place where the individual can regain some sense. If this approach were taken in the US, the incarceration rates would surely begin to decline over night.

References

Moore, M. (2011). Michael Moore goes to Norway and visits a prison of the future.

YouTube. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01mTKDaKa6Q

Subramanian, R., Shames, A. (2013). Sentencing and prison practices in Germany and the Netherlands: Implications for the United States. Vera Institute of Justice: Center on Sentencing and Corrections. Retrieved from https://storage.googleapis.com/vera-web-assets/downloads/Publications/sentencing-and-prison-practices-in-germany-and-the-netherlands-implications-for-the-united-states/legacy_downloads/european-american-prison-report-v3.pdf

Vera Institute. (2013). Sentencing and Prison Practices in Germany and the Netherlands:

Publication Highlights. Retrieved from https://www.vera.org/publications/sentencing-and-prison-practices-in-germany-and-the-netherlands-implications-for-the-united-states