The United States has the largest number of people incarcerated in the world and so it deals with overcrowding, violence, long sentences, and hopelessness, writes Jordan Hyatt and Synove Nygaard Anderson for yahoo.com

But a unique approach used at Scandinavian prisons now being tried at a state prison in Chester may hold solutions.

The approach changes the prison environment. A pilot program is underway at SCI Chester, a medium-security prison, involving 35 incarcerated men.

Scandinavian prisons, like those in Sweden and Norway, promote rehabilitation and meaningful change, with core values of safety, transparency, and innovation.

The idea is to continue normalcy and a community life even behind walls and bars.

The men are in single cells. There’s a communal kitchen, Nordic-like furnishings, a landscaped, outdoor green space. Plants grow in the common areas and there’s a large fish tank in an area that encourages people to gather.

Fresh food is purchased through a grocery program.  Each day, the men go to work, treatment or school, all inside the prison.

The staff ratio to incarcerated men is low and correctional officers receive special training to facilitate communication with the residents.

There have been no acts of violence since the program was implemented.

Read more about this new approach to prison life at yahoo.com.