Lock them up and throw away the key. When it comes to prison, that鈥檚聽the聽view in much of Europe, including the UK, and the US.
Politicians have for years focused on 鈥渂eing tough on crime鈥� 鈥� with the result of ensuring that those who are imprisoned are not just locked up in a place they cannot escape from, but . It seems hard to change this mindset.
But if we want prisoners to rehabilitate, the evidence says this does not work. Such punishment usually fails to deter offending on release. On the contrary, a large amount of crime is committed by those who 鈥済o in and out鈥� of prisons. In some UK jails, for example, .
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There is another way. At Norway鈥檚 Bast酶y prison on an island south of the capital Oslo, it is different. Reoffending rates there are a fraction of those in the UK: 16 per cent at Bast酶y, and less than 30 per cent in the country overall.
This is despite some 65-70 per cent of all inmates in Norway having serious problems with drug and alcohol addiction. Personality disorders and antisocial behaviour are also common, and in that sense the prison population is like that in the UK 鈥� so why such different outcomes?
I am proud to say that a prison sentence in my country means loss of freedom, .
To make prison a place for rehabilitation requires finding a way to ensure that inmates are kept in jail and at the same time treated as human beings, retaining civil rights 鈥� .
This also means using different security methods, such as less use of walls, fences and locked doors. There must be a focus on culture and ensuring that staff hold high qualifications and ethical standards.
Community feeling
Bast酶y runs as a community, with most of the services, opportunities and challenges found in a small Norwegian village. It is a place where inmates can learn and have the chance to develop responsibility for the way they think and act, and the choices they make.
Developing respect and self-esteem 鈥� things that many inmates lack 鈥� is a priority. This starts with making each inmate aware of what they think about themselves. Rehabilitation does not begin with demanding respect for the governor or guards. All staff are trained to treat and socialise with inmates in a respectful way, with dignity and humanity central.
Countries such as the UK need to make more use of low-security and open-prison regimes. These cause less damage to mental health than high-security ones. It remains to be seen what shape UK justice secretary 鈥� will take.
To those still wedded to the primitive idea that retribution is essential, I always say that the person they would like to see suffer in prison might one day return to their neighbourhood as a bigger threat than before.
We need politicians who pay attention to research, practice and experience, and who will be brave enough to say 鈥渆nough is enough鈥�. A change is needed now, otherwise some societies and countries may lose the fight against crime.
