Be careful not to apply this to generally. American society is not like Norweigan society - we have a higher division between rich / poor, fewer social safety nets, and higher crime rates. Not only that, our prisons (because of how we run them) are basically places for criminals to mingle with other criminals and become better criminals. Not to mention we have a societal bias against anybody who came out of prison - for the aforementioned reason. We know our prisons don't rehabilitate.
I'm not sure simply applying the Norweigan solution would actually work here - there needs to be a more systemic societal change in order for that to work.
Having said that, consider me impressed with your society's level head.
Of course. The American system is in dire need of reform in the direction of actual rehabilitation, but adopting a carbon copy of the Norwegian system overnight would be a terrible idea. The current economic system of the United States pushes millions of people into a level of poverty completely unheard of in my own country. To this class, pursuing a lifelong criminal career may seem to be a reasonable option.
You face the same issues in the gun control controversy. I'm very much in favour of liberal gun laws in Europe. But there is a huge difference between giving guns to hunters and recreational marksmen - and giving guns to inner-city youth participating in organized crime, impoverished lumpenproles or xenophobic, rural jingos.
For what it's worth, the 'xenophobic rural jingos' in and of themselves don't cause a lot of gun crime. The drug trade is the primary source of gun violence in the US.
I'm not sure simply applying the Norweigan solution would actually work here - there needs to be a more systemic societal change in order for that to work.
Having said that, consider me impressed with your society's level head.