let me tell you about this guy espen in his daily routine his morning starts with an energetic bike
ride through a pine forest after an intense gin session and some indoor climbing our friend will
relax his muscles in the sauna next is time for some quiet time in a well-stocked library where
there may be the chance to attend a lecture or two at lunch the lucky guy will enjoy dishes prepared
with locally sourced produce followed by a game of snooker during the afternoon aspen may get
the new arrivals at the farm new hereford cow or a beautiful workhorse as the sun sets over the
island he may take a walk on the beach with his friends and maybe even try a spot to fly fishing
in the crystal clear waters of the ford sounds all right doesn't it you may be wondering well
how can i get me some of that unfortunately the website for this resort does not accept
any bookings to access it you may have to follow in espen's footsteps go to norway find a bank
walk in and rob it after you're caught and receive your sentence you may
ask to be transferred to bastoy island which is almost certainly the nicest prison in the world
our destination today is the largest low security prison in norway located on the
small bastoy island in the oslo ford it has a service area of only 2.6 square kilometers
so it depends on the municipality of horton for supplies horton is just a short ferry ride away
the institution occupies the whole island but the beach of nord buchter on the northern shores
is open to the general public if you visit you may have some unexpected encounters with one of
the hundred or so inmates the convicts are free to exit their cells at any time and roam around
the island bastoy prison is not your average jail it is organized as a small independent
community complete with about 80 buildings roads beaches sporting facilities woodlands and a farm
this farm is run according to ecological and sustainable principles produce and livestock are
grown without the use of artificial fertilizers this ensures that the prison canteen is always
stocked with fresh organic produce in general the entire island is managed with a focus on
minimizing waste and co2 emissions the inhabitants of bastoy can enjoy a gym a local shop a library
and access to health services and a church i may have given the impression that our friend espen
and other convicts spend their day just playing about but actually most of the day is dedicated to
educational and working sessions inmates can work in the local technical workshop which could earn
them a craftsman license they can of course tend to the farm cook in the kitchen or work shifts at
the small harbour this is where the ferry vedarai arrives and departs from several times a day
it brings some 40 000 passengers and 1 000 vehicles every year and it is the main link
to mainland norway and that's right the ferry services are managed by convicts of course
it would be dead easy for one of them to hijack the vessel and go on the lamb but it wouldn't
necessarily be in their best interest the whole concept of bast or other similar institutions is
to provide a more pleasant experience than most jails heck more pleasant than most college dorms
this way authorities can focus on re-educating prisoners and reintroducing them into society
was the ultimate aim of reducing reoffending rates we will explore more in detail how
this system works and whether or not it really delivers but before it committed to re-educating
its inmates basto authorities were dedicated to the utmost punishment of its inhabitants before
becoming such an idyllic prison bastoy had earned the title of devil's island
the first incarnation of bastoy prison was bastoy boy's home a reformatory for young offenders back
in 1896 sweden and norway were still a union under the ruling house of bernadotte but norway had its
own parliament which in 1896 promulgated the child welfare council act this law put into place a
reformatory system designed to re-educate children who were not serious offenders the goal was to
reintroduce them to society as honest citizens preventing them from spiraling to a life of crime
in the same year bastoy boy's home was founded opening its gates in 1900 to the general public
boys home presented itself as a safe boarding school for troubled young boys a solid institution
offering a christian upbringing through values of hard work and discipline the boys were overseen by
a council of guardians whose job was to find the best educational pathway for each individual while
refraining from punishment but very soon dark rumors began circulating about harsh conditions
and disproportionate discipline meted out on the young inmates these rumors were confirmed
by the 1907 novel by law written by whistleblower mikhail stolpe his real name was bjorn evier and
he had been a teacher of bastoy his account used fictionalized names but the events attracted the
attention of the norwegian government independent from sweden since 1905. eventually bylaw triggered
the biggest scandal in the history of norwegian child welfare evia exposed how boys had to sleep
in overcrowded under-heated dormant trees sharing short thin blankets useless against
norwegian winter nights food was scarce and sanitation was poor both contributing factors to
chronic poor health conditions guardians had in general a lack of respect and care
for the children punishing them with whips or riding crops for any minimal transgression the
staff held harsh christian and puritan morals meaning that teen boys caught masturbating well
they'd soon regret it since the early years of the bastoy home boys took in small acts of rebellion
mainly hunger strikes but with little effect the first larger protest took place in the summer of
1908 the ministry of education had finally decided to conduct an inquiry into the conditions at
bastoy and its two other reformatories bjorn evier and other witnesses confirmed all the
worse suspicions to the norwegian public as the inquest dragged on newsreached the ministry that
a fire had broken out in bastoy a group of inmates tired of punishment and maybe also seeking
some attention had set fire to the main barn at bastoy but apparently their plan was to set fire
to the whole institution following these events the ministry confirmed that abuse had no doubt
taken place in all three reformatories under scrutiny the outcome led to a review of the
1896 law which ensured better conditions were to be enforced in the boys homes but the effects of
the scandal soon fizzled out like the northern lights had dawn by may 21 1915 abuse and neglect
had again become common practice so much so that a group of boys planned a mass escape from the
island when the prison break failed they opted for open rebellion once again they set fire to
the main barn and moved on to attack their former guardians soon they'd taken over the island once
the government learnt about the uprising they reacted swiftly lest the inmates managed to escape
to the mainland we could not find records of how many boys participated in the revolt odds are that
it was a few dozen pre-teens and young teenagers nevertheless the norwegian army took no chances
they send in 150 troops torpedo boats a large warship and a submarine to cordon off bastoy
satirical magazine of epson commented at the time during the hunt for the escaped bastoy boys our
soldiers have taken an excellent test of courage and bravery needless to say this second rebellion
was decisively quashed almost a century later in 2010 the events of the uprising were fictionalized
in the norwegian film the king of devils island but by the time it smashed the local box offices
bastoy and the whole norwegian prison system had undergone a fairly radical change
the reformatory was kept in operation until 1970. after its closure the infrastructure
was used as a shelter for the homeless then a clinic for disabled patients and
finally a rehab center it was only in 1983 that the bastoy prison for adult offenders was opened
first it functioned only as a satellite of the maximum security jail of halden then in 1988 it
gained formal status as an independent prison their 100 to 120 inmates that can be housed in
bastoy are there to serve mid to long sentences with the average duration running five years some
have been sent here straight from the courtroom while others have applied for transfer from
another prison the procedure is quite simple the convict must contact the local sentence officer
to file a transfer request in the application the convict should state what his plans are for the
future and his motivation to re-enter society as a law-abiding citizen prison authorities in bastoy
take into account other factors especially if the offender has taken part in a violent crime as part
of a syndicate or as a flight risk but on several occasions authorities have accepted the requests
of fairly hardened criminals murderers rapists and drug dealers but in all cases they were nearing
the end of their sentence and have shown a clear intention to leave their criminal past behind
if a request is accepted and a felon makes it to the island he will meet his contact officer
within two weeks of arrival together they will map the short and long-term development plans
for the new arrival these plans may include the attainment of a diploma certificate or degree or
perhaps the learning of a new skill qualification or trade to ensure a full reintroduction into
society as part of their recovery plan prisoners must commit to three cardinal rules no violence
no alcohol no drugs the last restriction includes tranquilizers hormones or any other chemical
substance not legally prescribed prison officers enforce this ban by taking daily urine samples
from every inmate collected at random times throughout the day convicts who cannot shake off
their addictions can be referred to the addiction handling unit opened in december of 2009. there
they will be followed by three consultants one of which is an ex-con besides collecting pee in
jars bastoy workers do enforce security rather tightly but not in the traditional visible way
the guard to inmate ratio is quite high with 35 orders looking after up to 120 convicts at
night though only four officers remain on site while the rest are ferried back to the mainland
in any other prison that would be an invitation to riot and prisoners would not be short of weapons
as most perform agricultural or workshop jobs they have wide access to knives axes hammers and
even chainsaws but authorities take great care to ensure that guards and inmates have a close
respectful relationship which has proven to all but eliminate the episodes of violence between
the two groups recently prison governor arne kavernick nilsson proudly declared
i have not had one violent incident here and the lack of traditional repressive methods
hasn't caused mass escapes either in all of bastoy's recent history there has only been
one recorded escape in 2015 a prisoner fled to the mainland using a surfboard and a paddle or
a fishing boat according to some sources whatever the means the end was the same he was caught and
sent back to a high security jail with no chance of a return to bastoy in the future in fact
nielsen is so sure about his guests not escaping that he welcomes all new arrivals with the same
speech if you should escape and make it across the water to the free shore find a phone and call
so i know you're okay so we don't have to send the coast guard looking for you
research carried out by the technical university of eindhoven in the netherlands has explored the
beneficial impact of the prison's layout and design on the experiences and behavior
of prisoners you may have picked up already that there are no large prison blocks here no
endless corridors protected by armored doors and scanned by cctv cameras no bars on the windows
well except for two high security cells reserved for violent inmates but those are rarely if ever
used the institution is laid out as a typical norwegian village of wooden cottages decorated
with plastered surfaces and brightly coloured tiles each cottage is shared by six prisoners
who enjoy their own private room on the upper floor and they share a bathroom kitchen living
room on the ground floor the houses are surrounded by hectares of greenery encouraging contact with
nature and an active lifestyle the communal areas have also been designed with similar care the
library is decorated with contemporary norwegian art while the canteen where convicts and gods
sit together was described by british journalists as something that could pass for a trendy london
restaurant bastor authorities have broken down and reconstructed the physical material experience
prison life down to every detail the exterior signs of institutional life and oppression
have been transformed into a welcoming community and intended to project the inmates into their
future lives the architectural aspects are not lost on the convicts especially those who have
been transferred from high security jails but what really matters to them is the shift in
the way that they're treated the way they're given responsibility and shown trust one inmate reported
i feel i have value because the boss and the employees see me as a person i do not care
about colors and modern buildings i care about the people that give me a feeling of personal value
this approach applied at bastoy island has for sure attracted some critics those who believe that
criminals should receive a harsh punishment for their misdeeds have dismissed the norwegian jail
as no more than a cushy island resort governor nielsen is quick to shut down these denigrators
while he admits that the regime may appear to be two lags from his perspective the ultimate
goal of a prison system is to prevent convicts from returning to a life of crime and figures
speak for themselves bastoy at just 16 percent can boast the lowest reoffending rate in europe
the measures in place at the low security institution may work for that specific instance
but would they be as effective when extended to an entire country as a matter of fact since the 1990s
the government of norway has applied some of the bastoy principles to other institutions even the
high security ones in 2019 the outcome of these reforms was evaluated by a study carried out by
researchers at the university of oslo norwegian school of economics university of california
and the university of chicago it reported that incarceration in the country's system lowers the
probability an individual will reoffend within five years by 27 and reduces the corresponding
number of criminal charges by an individual by 10 it also highlighted the beneficial effect
on employment rates imprisonment causes a 34 increase in participation in job training programs
consider this the employment rate of jobless convicts increased by 40 percent within five years
since their incarceration the norwegian study was compared to similar research on the u.s justice
system conducted in texas michigan and north carolina the u.s studies showed that incarceration
increased severity in incidence of recidivism and worsened outcomes in the labor market according to
the study then the system put in place at bastoy is clearly working if you happen to be a criminal
justice official and you'd like to extrapolate the basic ingredients of the recipe at bastoy
well here they are number one place low-level offenders in minimum security prisons where they
are given more freedom and responsibilities number two avoid overcrowding keep one prisoner per cell
to lower the inmate to staff ratio number three offer adequate education drug treatment mental
health and training programs number four provide post-release support to help ex-cons reintegrate
into society the natural objection to such a program is that it will cost taxpayers dearly who
may not be so eager to pay for the college degree of a criminal regardless of how serious their
crimes were in fact the norwegian prison system spends twice the annual amount per inmate compared
to other western european countries and up to four times more compared to the united states
so is it worth it to invest in such a system well apparently yes these high costs are offset by the
corresponding benefits to society low reoffending rates translate to fewer crimes being committed
meaning a reduction in costs for criminal courts and policing higher employment rates also
translate into more taxes paid to the government as well as lower benefits being handed out finally
a drop in crime results in lower victimization costs these are the costs incurred by victims
of a crime and include property loss medical bills reduced productivity higher insurance premiums and
very importantly non-monetary losses like fear stress and overall loss of quality of life
data from the world prison brief as of april 2021 further shows that the norwegian system
is yielding some promising results the prison population rate in norway is 54
per hundred thousand citizens that places the scandinavian country in place 193 out of 223
the ranking is topped by the u.s with 693 convicts per 100 000 of the population local prisons are
also far from overcrowded the occupancy level compared to available sales is 76.1 percent in
this respect norway ranks 173rd internationally the most overcrowded prison system belongs to the
republic of the congo with a rate of 617 percent so which prison system would best benefit our
society one based on the old devil's island or one where the modern day bastoy leads the way
so i really hope you found that video interesting if you did
please do hit that thumbs up button below and thank you for watching you