Photos of maximum-security prisons in Norway and the US reveal the extremes of prison life

Amnesty International

Inside the walls of the toughest prison in the US, a fork is a deadly weapon. Inside the walls of Norway's toughest prison, a fork is, well ... a fork.

The differences extend far past silverware. In just about every way, the approaches that the US and Norway take to criminal justice fall on opposite ends of the spectrum.

While the US uses isolation to punish offenders and keep them away from civil society, Norway prefers to rehabilitate its inmates so they can return to the outside world — there are no life sentences.

No two prisons make that difference more clear than the super-max Administrative Security Facility, or ADX Florence, in Florence, Colorado and Halden Prison, in Halden, Norway.

Not all US prisons are as strict as ADX, and while Halden is technically maximum-security, it's still closer to the rule than the exception in Norway. Here's what life is like at both extremes.

Opened in 2010, Halden Prison has been called the world's most humane prison, despite its official status as "maximum security."

It was designed by Erik Møller Architects with the intent of being surrounded by nature. Prisoners have ample access to windows to gaze onto the nearby trees and grass.

By American standards, the interior looks nothing like a typical prison. There are wooden doors with handles and windows, not metal doors that let little light in.