Strange prison for dangerous criminals is as luxurious as a resort

Bedrooms with TVs, computers and DVD players; art and cooking classes with a five-star chef; a fully equipped recording studio and beachside bike rides and sunbathing. That's what life is like for an inmate at Bastoy Prison in Norway,CNNreport

Bastoy Island, located off the coast of Oslo, Norway, holds more than 100 prisoners, including convicted criminals for crimes such as murder, rape, and drug trafficking. Unlike a typical prison, however, Bastoy has no high walls, no electric fences, no guards patrolling around the clock, and no cells with bars.

At Bastoy Prison, inmates have their own rooms with full amenities, work every day on livestock and crop farms, take painting classes, audition in a modern studio and learn to cook with 5-star chefs.For recreation, prisoners here have their own private beach for sunbathing in the summer. In addition, prisoners have many other options such as fishing or playing sports.

The Norwegian prison system is based on three principles: normality, humanity and reintegration. According to the Norwegian government, prison is not a place to punish or cause pain, but a place to help a person become a better citizen. Furthermore, because there are no life sentences, Norwegians believe that prison life should resemble normal everyday life so that prisoners can quickly reintegrate into society after serving their sentences.

And this Nordic country has always been proud of having the lowest recidivism rate in the world. Meanwhile, the prison system in the US is classified as extremely strict but the recidivism rate of prisoners is among the highest in the world.

Faced with that problem, in 2015, prison directors and lawmakers from the midwestern US state of North Dakota traveled to Norway to see the country’s prison system firsthand. After the trip, the North Dakota state government decided to experiment with applying some of the principles of Norwegian prisons to its incarceration facilities.