As the great Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoevsky observed, "The degree of civilization in a society can be judged by entering its prisons."
Not only are US prisons hard places, with a rate of rearrest around 70 percent, but they are also quite full. In point of fact, as a percentage of the population, US prisons are the fullest. The United States has just over 4 percent of the world's population, yet claims 22 percent of the prisoners in the world.
When one looks, one cannot help but notice a certain congruity between US foreign and domestic policy.
Good article.
http://www.theguardian.com/society/2013/sep/04/bastoy-norwegian-prison-works
prison statistics: http://www.prisonstudies.org/info/worldbrief/wpb_country.php?country=190
