Americans Reacting to Halden Prison

A Norwegian reflection on how Americans react to watching documentaries of Halden prison, the world’s most humane prison.

Many of us from small countries are guilty of being suckers for wanting to know what everybody in the big world thinks about us. So sometimes it is fun watching Americans react to videos about something in Norway. Oddly, we seemed to have carved ourselves this odd brand of the country of fjords and humane prisons. What a bizarre thing to be known for abroad!

I find it strangely fascinating to see what Americans think of prisons in Norway that look like this:

Inside Halden prison in Norway. This is a maximum security prison for killers, rapists and drug dealers.

If you don’t know what Halden prison is like, I advise you to look at one of the documentaries, as I will not describe the prison much here. Instead, I will focus on the typical reactions by foreigners getting introduced to Halden.

This Prison Is Better Than My House!

A lot of commenters remark about how the prison is nicer than their house, student dorm, or something else. Many seem upset by what they perceive as prison being nicer than living conditions of a lot of poor people. You get people making statements like “I would be upset if I were a tax-payer in Norway.”