The UK should be looking to the Scandinavian model of reform and rehabilitation for inspiration, not America’s.
The use of prisons as a form of punishment and detention dates back over 2,000 years to the Ancient Romans and Greeks, but the system of mass incarceration only became widespread in Europe during the Enlightenment period.
The banalisation of this form of punishment was in response to popular resistance to public execution and torture; prison was used as a more humane approach, intended to reform convicts.
Reformers also believed that the harsh conditions of the prisons would act as a more powerful deterrent against crime.
It seems shocking then, that over 250 years later, nothing has changed in the way that we confront criminality.
The UK has the highest prison population per capita in western Europe – over 80,000 people are currently behind bars.
Yet, recidivism (reoffending after release from prison) rates in the UK are some of the highest in the world; around 60% of released inmates go on to reoffend within a two-year period.
Not only does this demonstrate that our current approach is largely ineffective, but it also leads to overcrowding of prisons with a perpetually re-offending population.
This means prisoners are unable to access the services and facilities they need, leading to neglect and mental health issues amongst inmates.
From 2015 – 2016, self-harm incidents amongst UK prisoners rose by 73% to over 40,000 incidents.
It’s also economically unjustifiable – reoffending by ex-prisoners costs at least £11bn per year – and does a disservice to both the offenders and society as a whole.
We can see similar patterns on a wider scale in larger countries. America, for example, has the highest incarceration rate in the world and a recidivism rate of 60%. Even the death penalty does not act as an effective deterrent, despite still being implemented in 31 states.
In 2013, despite having only 4% of the world’s population, the US held around 22% of the global incarcerated population.
So where do we go from here? Instead of punishment and detention, we must look to rehabilitate and reform.
The Scandinavian model, rather than perpetuating the cycle of re-offending through punitive sentences and harsh prison conditions, focuses on rehabilitation.
In Nordic prisons, inmates have access to expensive facilities, such as ski-jumps, are able to travel unaccompanied to towns to work or study and have a personal correctional officer whose job is to monitor and help advance their progress to rehabilitation.
Suomenlinna Island has an ‘open’ prison, where the rooms have flat-screen TVs and prisoners have a barbeque pit and a dining hall joint with the officers.
After moving to this model 20 years ago, Norway’s reoffending rate has dropped to 20%.
The evidence for rehabilitation seems pretty compelling, and this is true even in the experimental schemes that have started to be run in the UK.
The largest of this being Operation Checkpoint, a ‘deferred prosecution scheme’ run by Durham Constabulary.
Offenders who have committed relatively low harm offences, such as theft or criminal damage, are able to avoid prosecution by participating in a programme to address the cause of reoffending.
The scheme involved the offenders completing up to 36 hours of community service, taking part in a restorative approach (if the victim wishes) and attending sessions that focus on the root of their offending, such as drug abuse, financial issues and mental health.
Early figures indicate a drop in re-arrests of between 12 and 14% in those who participated in the scheme, and potential saving of £160,000 a year for the Durham Constabulary.
An individual who took part in Operation Checkpoint explained their life before and after intervention.
‘My life was absolute chaos…I was homeless. My children didn’t want to know me, and my mental health was at rock bottom.’
They recalled how the support workers helped them find a place to stay and ‘phoned everyday’ during their alcohol detox.
We have to act on these statistics – punitive prison sentences do not prepare offenders for the outside world, which changes hugely by the end of a longer sentence and pushes them back into criminal activity.
The government must invest in rehabilitation schemes and improve current prison facilities to help prisoners, not punish them further.
One such scheme is the New Futures Network, a government scheme that matches companies with prisoners.
Companies are able to recruit prisoners during their sentence. Afterwards they are released with newly gain skills, experience, and qualifications. Having a job once leaving prison reduces the risk of re-offending by nearly 10%, though keep in mind that only 17% of offenders will find a job within one year of release.
The benefits are not limited to the ex-prisoners, either. Businesses involved in the scheme say their reputation has improved as a result, and that ex-offenders often prove more reliable and loyal workers than traditional staff.
We’ve already seen that the punitive approaches have not worked, instead perpetuating a cycle of re-offending. A radical rethink is needed if we want our prison system to be truly effective.
Hi! I’m Georgie (She/Her). I am currently studying History at the University of Oxford and hope to go into journalism. I enjoy reading and going on marches for all things intersectionality, feminism, and climate justice. Visit my LinkedIn and view my Twitter.
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