Hey Thoughty2 here.
In 2008 an inmate in Colorado, convicted of armed robbery, was released from prison 90
years too early, due to a clerical error.
He couldn't believe his luck and was determined to get his life back on track.
He got a job, got married, had kids, went to church every week and started coaching
youth soccer.
After six years of making the most of his accidental freedom, authorities realised their
mistake and sent him back to prison.
In America prison inmates are accidentally released too early, disturbingly often.
Also in Colorado another inmate was mistakenly released four years early, their story wasn't
as pleasant.
Whilst out of prison he killed the state's correction chief when he knocked on the inmate's
door.
But if an inmate serves their entire sentence or is perhaps let out early for good behaviour,
what are the chances of them re-offending.
Does the prison system actually work?
There are currently over nine million people incarcerated in prisons worldwide.
Half of that number is held in just three countries, the US, China and Russia.
The US has the most prisoners by far, with over 2.3 million adults behind bars within
its borders.
America has just 5% of the world's population but over one quarter of its prison population.
So does this mass incarceration work?
No, absolutely not, in fact it does quite the opposite.
Prison only creates more crime and more prisoners.
It is a completely self-criminalising system.
Imagine if I told you I had a fantastic new plan to stop crime.
We take all the people that have been naughty and put them into a building where they can't
leave and all they can do to keep themselves occupied is talk to all the other criminals
and learn.
Learn how to commit more complex crimes and get away with it.
And plan their next grand criminal escapade once they are released.
They may even form coalitions.
Crime is practiced on one-another inside prison, in whatever ways possible.
Some rise to the top of the food chain and become kingpins or gang leaders that command
and orchestrate new crimes on the outside, from inside prison.
Many experts have labelled prison as "crime school" and it's easy to see why.
This is an excerpt from a letter by a UK prisoner called Ben, that was entered into a yearly
prisoner writing competition.
"The day I was sent to prison, I learned how to steal cars.
Still in shock from the jury’s verdict, I was led from the courthouse into a white
van.
A convict in another compartment was boasting of how he drove off and sold luxury motors:
BMWs, Mercedes and the like.
He used an electronic device to override their immobilisers.
Unseen figures from other compartments called out questions: “How long does it take?”
“What models does it work on?”
“How can I get one?”
I listened, intrigued.
I’d never stolen anything and didn’t intend to.
Then again it sounded so easy …"
So then it's no surprise that the recidivism rate is so high.
In the US almost 70% of prisoners are rearrested within three years of being released and 77%
are rearrested within five years.
And that's just the people that are caught recommitting crimes.
Sure, when it comes to any kind of prison statistics, America is always the worst example,
but other countries are not far behind, in the UK 47% of prisoners reoffend within three
years.
But there is one country that has broke the mould and has reduced their recidivism rate
to just 20%.
But we'll talk about that in a minute.
Hatred breeds hatred and violence causes violence.
People who have been hurt are the most likely to go on to hurt others.
And as long as the prison system is based on violence and hard-line punishment it will
continue to create more violence and crime.
The world's leading psychologists have long agreed that confining humans in cages with
minimal human interaction and sometimes with no human interaction whatsoever, is unimaginably
damaging to one's long-term mental health.
It creates deep mental wounds.
It de-humanises people and devalues a person's sense of worth.
And once you take that away, more crime can seem like the only way forward after release
from prison.
But by far one of the most damaging effects of prison on both prisoners and society is
isolation, especially from family members.
Prison tears away a person's support network and research shows that the number one factor
that determines if a person will re-offend or not after release, is whether they have
support from their family and friends.
Prison makes this level of support practically unachievable.
But the wounds go even deeper, in America 2.7 million children have a parent inside
prison, research has shown that when a child loses their mother or father figure to prison,
with minimal contact, they are many, many times more likely to grow up to commit crime
themselves.
So not only is prison causing adults to re-offend its also preparing the next generation to
be criminals too.
So what's the answer?
It's very well saying that prison doesn't work but surely the only alternative, that
doesn't violate every human rights law, is allowing murderers, rapists and other criminals
to roam the streets?
Or is it?
Remember earlier I mentioned that there is a country where the reoffending rate is just
20%.
Well, what if I also told you that this mystical place also has one of the lowest incarceration
rates in the world.
They have put only 70 out of every 100,000 of their citizens behind bars.
Compared to the world's leading incarcerator, America, which has put 716 of every 100,000
of their citizens in prison, over 10 as many.
Welcome to a magical land called Norway.
Where the air is clean, the food is pickled and the streets are ridiculously safe.
Norway is officially the 6th safest country in the world according to The Legatum Prosperity
Index of 2016, joining the ranks of other Scandinavian countries and places like Singapore
and Japan.
Sure Norway has had its upsets in recent years but overall its still one of the safest places
to live.
Yet how can this be when they incarcerate such a tiny percentage of their population?
Surely the only way to keep the public safe is to lock up all the criminals for life so
they can't commit any more crime.
That makes sense in theory, but the most important factor is what happens after a prisoner is
released.
There isn't a constant supply of new criminals.
It's estimated that only 15% of the population of a country will ever commit a crime during
their lives and the vast majority of major crimes that are worthy of prison time are
committed by an even smaller group of constant reoffenders, in most countries at least.
So then it makes sense that if you reform that tiny pool of people that are continually
committing crimes, over and over again, by turning them into fully functioning, upstanding
members of society then the prison population will naturally decrease instead of increasing
every year, as it has in America.
And that's how Norway has created one of the safest countries in the world and achieved
one of the lowest prison populations, by mastering the art of rehabilitation.
In fact Norway's rehabilitation methods have been so successful that their prison population
is falling every year and so is crime.
Whilst the rest of the world is busy building more and more prisons.
But their method of rehabilitation is quite unusual.
Unlike in most developed countries, the prison authorities don't sit you in a white room
and have a patronising conversation with you, about how you will manage on the outside.
They don't make you absolutely promise that you'll get a job and not shoot anyone.
What they do is actually refreshingly simple and obvious, they treat you like a normal
person.
This may seem unfair, after all these are criminals, not puppies.
But when you think about it, why shouldn't criminals be treated like normal people, and
given proper accommodation, jobs and social lives.
They may have messed up, but your basic human needs don't suddenly change when you get sentenced.
And to strip away the essential things that make you human only serves to cause further
mental damage to a person, increasing the likelihood of them committing violent crime
in the future.
Welcome to Halden, a maximum security prison in Norway, that houses the countries most
violent criminals.
All inmates are treated the same, no matter their crime.
There is no pointless and damaging solitary confinement.
This is an inmate's cell, it's nice and roomy, they all have unrestricted windows to the
outside with plenty of natural light, and it's all theirs, they don't have to share
with anyone.
There's a flatscreen TV in every room, private shower, mini-fridge and other luxuries.
I've definitely stayed in worse hotel rooms.
There's a cookery school where all inmates are taught how to cook for themselves.
A shop and kitchen, so inmates can buy ingredients and make their own meals or cook for their
prison buddies, and yes, there are plenty of sharp knives lying around.
Prisoners are free to leave their cells at any time and enjoy the prisons various facilities,
such as the gym, sports hall with a rock climbing wall, outdoor sports field, music studio where
inmates are encouraged to make music that is often played by local radio stations, a
woodworking studio, a library with CDs, DVDs and games.
Not only are prisoners encouraged to spend time outside their cells but they are actually
paid to do so.
Prisoners are given an incentive of 53 Kroner, or $7 dollars per day to leave their cells
and socialise.
All inmates are offered the opportunity of education and paid jobs within the prison.
Nobody has ever tried to escape from Halden prison and incidents of violence are extremely
rare.
Norway is a vast, beautiful country and in Norway taking away a person's freedom is considered
enough of a punishment for any crime.
So instead of spending a person's prison sentence punishing them further, Norwegian prisons
focus solely on rehabilitation and repairing the mental damage that may have caused them
to commit crime in the first place.
This may be too progressive for some and it raises an ethical concern.
Is it right and just that a person who potentially murdered a friend or family member should
be treated as though they're at a five-star retreat, at the cost of taxpayers?
But when viewed pragmatically it makes perfect sense, this prison has achieved an incredibly
low recidivism rate of just 20%, the lowest in the world.
And this in turn, lowers crime rates every year, it's better for society and the economy.
This is all helped along further by the incredible support a Norwegian ex-prisoner receives after
being released.
Various agencies give them support and check up on them regularly, making sure they have
accommodation, a support network and crucially a job.
Contrary to America where a criminal record, even for a minor offence is a big black mark
on your CV and permanent government records, which ensures you will never get a proper
job and can never develop a career for the rest of your life.
It goes without saying that if you take away a criminal's chance to get a job, they're
probably going to turn to crime to fund themselves.
Well, I'll be dammed!
In Norway ex-prisoners are given free healthcare, education and a mandated pension.
Just like any other citizen.
Whilst many around the world have criticised Norway for being too soft on crime, the numbers
speak for themselves, with a 20% recidivism rate.
Punishment just doesn't work and it doesn't provide a deterrent, punishment only exacerbates
the problem, many countries have made a compelling case to prove that.
Norway has proven that the only way to solve the crime issue is to work with criminals
to achieve a better future.
And Norway have taken this one huge step further.
Halden Prison may seem like a paradise to many.
I mean, most students across the world probably live in worse conditions.
But there's a prison that's even more luxurious, a place that would give your last holiday
abroad a run for its money.
Welcome to Bastoy Island in Norway.
A beautiful secluded island, lush with forests and fauna, with some of the most idyllic beaches
in the world, just 50 miles south of Oslo.
But this isn't a five star holiday resort, this is a prison.
Bastoy island is Norway's minimum-security prison and the most luxurious prison in the
World.
But this isn't where the small-time crooks are held.
Bastoy is home to murderers, rapists and child molesters.
There are no locks, chains, cells or razor wire.
Prisoners are free to roam the island at their leisure, and enjoy bike rides, or go to the
beach for a dip in the ocean, whenever they feel like it.
Prisoners live in shared apartments and everyone has their own private bedroom with a lock
and key.
Even the prison guards don't have a key to prisoner's rooms.
The wooden houses are flush with TVs, computers, musical instruments and other luxuries.
Island inmates can take free classes in music, cookery, computer studies, craftsmanship or
academia, to prepare them for work after their release.
They can apply for jobs on the island; most work on the farm, looking after the animals,
using heavy machinery and growing food to feed the other islanders.
They live within their own ecosystem and the island is fully self-sufficient and sustainable.
The island hosts around 120 inmates with only five prison guards keeping watch overnight.
Even during the day, the inmates vastly outnumber the prison staff, who say they have good friendships
with all the inmates and are regularly invited in their homes for coffee and a chat when
passing by.
One of the previous residents of Bastoy Island was sent here after he chopped up two people
with a chainsaw.
Whilst on the island he was allowed to work in the forest with a chainsaw.
For recreation there is a sauna, tennis courts, plenty of fishing spots and horseback riding.
There is a resident head chef that cooks up restaurant quality dishes for anyone who doesn't
want to cook for themselves.
Some longer-term residents have the freedom to leave the island on boats and go to work
at real jobs on the mainland, 5 days a week.
No one has ever tried to escape from Bastoy Island.
Well, why would you?
This is essentially a holiday camp for criminals that many non-criminals would pay good money
to stay at.
This infuriates many people, why should we coddle and pamper violent criminals?
Well, in the words of the head psychologist at Bastoy prison and its ex-governor Arne
Nilsen "If we have created a holiday camp for criminals here, so what?
We should reduce the risk of reoffending, because if we don't, what's the point of punishment,
except for leaning toward the primitive side of humanity?"
And its difficult to argue with him when Bastoy Island prison's re-offender rate is just 16%,
even lower than the already impressive Norwegian national average of 20%.
The maximum prison sentence in Norway is just 21 years.
Even the terrorist Anders Breivik who, in 2011, killed eight people with a van bomb
in Oslo then chillingly shot dead 69 people at a summer camp, was only given a sentence
of 21 years.
Upon entering the court room the judge shook Breivik's hand and smiled at him, as is customary
in Norway.
This and his short sentance was greeted with mass skepticism and disgust by the world's
media.
He is the biggest challenge Norway's idyllic prison system has ever faced, will it prove
as successful at reforming him as it has many more before him?
Only time will tell.
Whether you agree with Norway's views on rehabilitation or not, you have to hand it to them, they
are doing something right, they have accomplished one of the safest societies in the world without
ever really punishing anyone.
And when hard line punitive treatment in America and other countries has only made problems
far worse and increased violence by both criminals and the authorities, year on year, perhaps
it is time for the world to pay attention.
Thanks for watching.