About Prison, Breivik & Isolation
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Transcription
I look like a complete mess because I've been working on the car in the middle of the day in sunshine so I'm a bit boiled.
About Breivik, Prison & Isolation. Part 1.
Norwegian prisons. We heard a lot about them in the recent case with Anders Breivik. And in this context the media was very eager to describe the Norwegian prison as a hotel. And what they don't say is of course that Norwegian prison is not one prison, you have a lot of different prisons and the standard in these different prisons vary a lot. So you do have very old-fashioned prisons and you have these modern prisons. And yes they have tiles in the shower and you have a shower in your cell. And this is not done for the comfort of prisoner this is done because it's easier to clean and it's done to isolate the prisoner. Because if you have a sink, if you have even refrigerators in some places, if you have a water boiler, if you have a TV, if you have a shower, if you have a toilet, if you have all of this inside your cell then you have no reason to leave the cell so you're stuck there 24/7 or 23/7.[1][2] Which of course is a different type of prison. There are no rapes in Norwegian prisons, there is less violence than in other prisons and in some places the food is better, but the isolation is extreme in Norwegian prisons.
In other prisons and you have to use the calling and you ask "Hey, can I take a shower?" and then they open the door, you go out talk some shit with the other prisoners in the hallway, you walk down you take a shower talk some shit for their prisoners in the hallway on the way back, and then you return to the cell. When you're serving like the Breivik is you are stuck there. Completely isolated and that's the purpose.
And we have old type prisons in Norway too with a very low standard and the funny thing is that if you compare the suicide statistics of for example Bergen prison with the old Bergen jail it's quite astonishing to see that there are approximately between 20 and 30 times as many suicides in the modern prisons. And if there are more suicides then there must be something wrong, don't you think? And the reason is of course that these modern prisons rob the prisoners of their dignity and also remove all sympathy for them if they complain.[3] Because others who look at the prison system from the outside they see "ahh, it's a hotel". But they don't understand how it's like to be in such a "hotel". They don't understand how isolation works. And I remember several times when I was in prison we had a new prisoner coming in and he was a "tough guy" and "no big deal". And when they locked him inside his cell and he came out for lunch they opened the doors on each side of the hallway... yes I worked on the car... now each side of the hallway. So I saw him and his hair was all directions for lunch and for dinner he was even more distressed and for supper he had broken down completely and cried and tried to bargain his way out of prison because of isolation. And that was one day. So it's not it's not like most people imagine.
Prison is not what most people think it is. And the problem with being in prison it's not that you have a thin mattress. The problem is isolation, the problem is being robbed of your dignity, the problem is being treated like a junkie, the problem is being treated like a child. And therefore you see many many times more suicides in modern prisons in Norway than in the old prisons. And I used Bergen prison and Bergen jail as an example because when Bergen prison open they closed down Bergen jail and it was basically the same prison population in both these prisons. And you saw like I said about 20 or 30 times as many suicides in the modern hotel which is interesting.[4][5]
I have served in some of these hotels too, so-called "hotels", and I've served in prisons where you basically just have a cell with a hole in the floor and they they don't even bother turning the light off in the evening, you have the light on 24/7. You have a hole in the floor to shit in, you have dried up vomit from other prisoners on the walls or the dried up blood from other prisoners and the mattress and so forth. So I know the difference and I can tell that the modern prisons are not any better they are much worse. I would rather serve in one of these old-school prisons than I would in one of these modern so-called "hotels".
And in the case of Breivik I think that his biggest problem is that he too probably thought that being in prison in Norway was no sweat. And that these modern prisons were just like hotels so it wouldn't be a problem. And then he met reality and it wasn't like he expected it to be so he's struggling. And of course the Norwegian authorities they do break the law they do expose him to what is can only be defined as torture but... That's life. They're not the good guys even though they have the law on their side. They are criminal scum. I think the most unsympathetic individuals I ever met in prison where some of the people who work there not those who were in prison themselves.
About Breivik, Prison & Isolation. Part 1.
Norwegian prisons. We heard a lot about them in the recent case with Anders Breivik. And in this context the media was very eager to describe the Norwegian prison as a hotel. And what they don't say is of course that Norwegian prison is not one prison, you have a lot of different prisons and the standard in these different prisons vary a lot. So you do have very old-fashioned prisons and you have these modern prisons. And yes they have tiles in the shower and you have a shower in your cell. And this is not done for the comfort of prisoner this is done because it's easier to clean and it's done to isolate the prisoner. Because if you have a sink, if you have even refrigerators in some places, if you have a water boiler, if you have a TV, if you have a shower, if you have a toilet, if you have all of this inside your cell then you have no reason to leave the cell so you're stuck there 24/7 or 23/7.[1][2] Which of course is a different type of prison. There are no rapes in Norwegian prisons, there is less violence than in other prisons and in some places the food is better, but the isolation is extreme in Norwegian prisons.
In other prisons and you have to use the calling and you ask "Hey, can I take a shower?" and then they open the door, you go out talk some shit with the other prisoners in the hallway, you walk down you take a shower talk some shit for their prisoners in the hallway on the way back, and then you return to the cell. When you're serving like the Breivik is you are stuck there. Completely isolated and that's the purpose.
And we have old type prisons in Norway too with a very low standard and the funny thing is that if you compare the suicide statistics of for example Bergen prison with the old Bergen jail it's quite astonishing to see that there are approximately between 20 and 30 times as many suicides in the modern prisons. And if there are more suicides then there must be something wrong, don't you think? And the reason is of course that these modern prisons rob the prisoners of their dignity and also remove all sympathy for them if they complain.[3] Because others who look at the prison system from the outside they see "ahh, it's a hotel". But they don't understand how it's like to be in such a "hotel". They don't understand how isolation works. And I remember several times when I was in prison we had a new prisoner coming in and he was a "tough guy" and "no big deal". And when they locked him inside his cell and he came out for lunch they opened the doors on each side of the hallway... yes I worked on the car... now each side of the hallway. So I saw him and his hair was all directions for lunch and for dinner he was even more distressed and for supper he had broken down completely and cried and tried to bargain his way out of prison because of isolation. And that was one day. So it's not it's not like most people imagine.
Prison is not what most people think it is. And the problem with being in prison it's not that you have a thin mattress. The problem is isolation, the problem is being robbed of your dignity, the problem is being treated like a junkie, the problem is being treated like a child. And therefore you see many many times more suicides in modern prisons in Norway than in the old prisons. And I used Bergen prison and Bergen jail as an example because when Bergen prison open they closed down Bergen jail and it was basically the same prison population in both these prisons. And you saw like I said about 20 or 30 times as many suicides in the modern hotel which is interesting.[4][5]
I have served in some of these hotels too, so-called "hotels", and I've served in prisons where you basically just have a cell with a hole in the floor and they they don't even bother turning the light off in the evening, you have the light on 24/7. You have a hole in the floor to shit in, you have dried up vomit from other prisoners on the walls or the dried up blood from other prisoners and the mattress and so forth. So I know the difference and I can tell that the modern prisons are not any better they are much worse. I would rather serve in one of these old-school prisons than I would in one of these modern so-called "hotels".
And in the case of Breivik I think that his biggest problem is that he too probably thought that being in prison in Norway was no sweat. And that these modern prisons were just like hotels so it wouldn't be a problem. And then he met reality and it wasn't like he expected it to be so he's struggling. And of course the Norwegian authorities they do break the law they do expose him to what is can only be defined as torture but... That's life. They're not the good guys even though they have the law on their side. They are criminal scum. I think the most unsympathetic individuals I ever met in prison where some of the people who work there not those who were in prison themselves.
- The last hour of the day you can spend in one of these nice yards. Usually alone.
- BTW: Not all prisoners are isolated in Norwegian prisons.
But Breivik certainly is one of the many who are. - Or even ridicule them in the whole world press.
- Old Bergen Jail.
- New Bergen Prison.