[canadaduane]

We can compare prison systems across populations. Bastøy prison in Norway has a recidivism rate of just 16%. It seems that all things being equal (i.e. if you can assume that "personality" averages out of the statistical equation when comparing across human populations) then they are doing something very important and remarkable for their people there. See https://www.theguardian.com/society/2013/sep/04/bastoy-norwe...

[_ptgt]

I think it's interesting exploratory work, but you can't just assume that the "personality" of Norwegian prisoners is the same as American ones. There are vast environmental and cultural between the two populations that play a causal role in personalities; to assume that personality differences would "average out" is not a reasonable assumption.

I don't mean to say that the Norwegian model can't or wouldn't work in the US, but it can't be considered any more than "exploratory" from a US policy perspective.