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This type of prison is better for prisoners' health

They are also cheaper to run, according to a criminologist.

Yellow rural house with a red roof, gravel driveway and trees under a blue sky.
Bastøy Prison is a low-security prison that offers prisoners greater flexibility and freedom.
Maud Hol Communications adviser
Presented by: Presented by: University of Oslo
Published

For several decades, Norwegian prison research has focused on the pains of imprisonment, isolation, and their harmful effects.

But what is needed for a prison to actually promote health, personal growth, and hope?

Research shows that the answer is quite different from the direction in which Norway is currently heading.

According to criminologist Pernille Nyvoll, Norwegian authorities are currently investing in large, modular high-security prisons.

These are standardised, prefabricated prison buildings. They have become the central strategy for expanding and modernising the Norwegian Correctional Service.

Small, low-security prisons are being scaled back. Yet these are the prisons that work best for the health and well-being of prisoners:

"In smaller settings, it's easier to preserve the prisoners’ identity and autonomy, while building close, trust-based relationships between prisoners and staff," says Nyvoll.

Low-security prisons also offer a clear economic benefit to society. They cost almost half as much to run as high-security prisons. This is shown in the Norwegian Correctional Service’s 2024 annual report.

They also provide a significantly better foundation for rehabilitation.

Portrait of Pernille Nyvoll
Criminologist Pernille Nyvoll has conducted 102 interviews with prisoners and staff in Norwegian prisons. In the low-security prisons, she was allowed to move about quite freely and spent days in the market garden, the laundry, the kitchen, and other places where prisoners gather.

Health is more than just treating illness

If we are to focus on health and rehabilitation during imprisonment, it is not enough simply to treat illnesses when they arise, the researcher points out.

Health during imprisonment involves much more than just the healthcare services provided in prison. It is about creating a safe environment in which prisoners are treated as human beings, the researcher explains.

In such an environment, prisoners can gradually be given more responsibility. Inmates can experience stability in their daily lives. To a very large extent, it is about how they feel they are treated as human beings, she elaborates.

To understand these mechanisms, Nyvoll has spent a great deal of time with both prisoners and staff. She has observed how the prison functions in practice.

Trust and humanity are important

"I’ve looked at everything that influences whether you have a good or a bad day in prison. I’ve spoken to both prisoners and staff," she says.

Nyvoll explains that in several of the new prisons, it is more difficult to maintain a good relationship between prisoners and staff.

"It's not the absence of control and security that makes the low-security prisons successful, but the presence of trust, responsibility, and humanity," she explains.

Life sentences do not exist in Norway, so prisoners will inevitably return to society after serving their sentence.

"And we naturally want people to be released in better health, particularly in terms of their mental health. Both so that they can lead normal lives and not reoffend, and so that they can find work and be of use to one another," Nyvoll says.

These prisons have better conditions

Small, open, low-security prisons are far better equipped to promote health and well-being than large high-security prisons, the researcher points out. Examples include Leira and Bastøy.

"Not all prisons can offer swimming lessons in the sea, but they can at Bastøy. At Leira, it’s possible to go for walks with dogs," says Nyvoll.

But outdoor activities are not the only important factor.

The prison’s design, natural surroundings, and social setting have a direct impact on the prisoners’ mental, physical, and social health, the researcher explains.

When asked what the concept of ‘health-promoting prisons’ entails, she replies:

"Traditional prison research has largely focused on the restrictions imposed by prison. That it causes pain, discomfort, and frustration. In my research, I’ve looked more at the opportunities that exist, and at how prisons can contribute to greater well-being, and incorporate health-promoting elements."

At the same time, she reminds us of an absolutely fundamental principle:

"Prisoners also have the right to good health."

The forgotten groups in the prison system

Norway is internationally recognised for its open, low-security prisons.

But Nyvoll’s research shows that these facilities are available to only a small number of prisoners. Highly vulnerable groups are excluded from prison conditions that could promote health.

Three groups are particularly affected:

"Women lack access to open, low-security prisons equivalent to those for men. People with severe disabilities lack universal design features, such as lifts. And foreign nationals are often placed in high-security facilities due to a presumed risk of escape," she explains.

Harmful versus constructive pains

Imprisonment inevitably involves pain and discomfort.

But pain during imprisonment is not necessarily entirely negative if it is linked to positive change, Nyvoll believes.

This might involve pursuing an education, establishing good daily routines, and confronting one’s own past in a supportive environment.

It is therefore crucial to distinguish between harmful and constructive pains.

"Harmful pains are things like the damage caused by isolation, or other purely negative consequences. Constructive pains may be linked to the challenges of changing routines and the greater expectation that they take responsibility," the researcher says.

A misguided policy direction

The Norwegian Correctional Service currently faces some tough decisions about priorities.

However, Nyvoll’s research reveals a clear contradiction between research-based knowledge and the direction of policy.

The consequence is that fewer prisoners have access to prison conditions that promote health. Ultimately, this could lead to poorer rehabilitation and an increased risk of reoffending, she points out.

Nyvoll sums it up like this:

"My findings confirm previous findings: That smaller prisons are better, and low-security prisons are better. If the Norwegian prison system is to maintain its reputation for being humane and rehabilitative, it might be wise to stop building large, closed prisons and instead focus on smaller, open units that allow for real change, as the research shows."

Reference:

Nyvoll, P. Pains and Possibilities of Imprisonment. An exploration of experiences from ‘exceptional’ open prisons in Norway, Doctoral thesis at the University of Oslo, 2026.

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Read the Norwegian version of this article on forskning.no

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