A COMPARATIVE STUDY ON PRISON SYSTEMS: TIHAR AND HALDEN

In order to serve justice, countries rely on one of two systems of justice. The first way is through the method of retributive justice and the second way is through restorative justice. Countries which tend to follow the retributive system of justice in their prisons tend to have higher incarceration and recidivism rates. On the other hand, countries which rely on restorative justice have lower crime rates and recidivism rates. But despite these findings, many justice systems around the world put emphasis on the first approach even though studies have shown that the restorative justice system can turn ex-offenders into well-functioning members of society. The goal of this comparative study is to understand how retributive justice and restorative justice work in India’s Tihar Jail and Norway’s Halden Prison, respectively. Moreover, it is also important to understand the impact of both of these justice systems on the offenders, while they serve time and after they have left the prison. Secondly, the research aims to decipher the possibility for other prisons to implement the restorative approach. To understand the subject in-depth, the researcher has referred to a compilation of secondary sources, including articles, books, documentaries, as well as previous research done in the subject area.