Reform vs Punishment
Recidivism rates are through the roof in the U.K and U.S. Norway is known for its rehabilitative system exercising a soft approach to criminals. Though, is a soft approach injustice.
Society has gotten to a point that we're seriously starting to talk about reform, rather than just pure punishment when it comes to the justice system. Which I do find funny when some people want to see those they dislike completely deleted from the internet, yet many others advocate for murderers to be slapped on the wrist and told not to do it again. "Murder is a big no-no, now on your way back into society, bud." I assume that most people do not think there's a way back for murderers, so that begs the question.
Does every person deserve a chance at reform?
I have always believed in prisoner reform, but I can't be sure that the majority of prisoners even want to be reformed or won't just pretend to be reformed. A whopping 68% of people in the U.K commit another crime within' 24 months of being released, and 54% do it after only 12 months (1). Though I have seen many different studies showing different first year reoffender percentages between 39%-65%, it's often quite difficult to know immediately what the purpose of the study is because reoffending and reconviction isn't even really the same thing. The difference is whether the person was actually convicted for it, as opposed to just getting a fine, or it not being proven in court. The definition may also change dependant on the country you live in. So these stats could be much higher or lower depending on the exact definitions, and I'd also say that reconviction stats would be more useful than reoffending stats. A person can get a caution for something that never goes to court, meaning it didn't have a formal investigation, and the person may never argue it because they think "okay that's bs but I'm not gonna argue it just to go to court and prove it". This could lead to higher percentages as that would count as a reoffence if that same person did something in the following 12 months to that caution.
Why do such a high percentage of people end up back in prison?
We can say that this is because they are being punished, not rehabilitated, but you could just as easily argue many criminals are selfish, sociopathic, and that they don't care to become a better person. Some in prison are there because of their circumstance, not their personality and choices. Those people who commit crimes because they were starving, fighting addictions, trying to survive, or simply suffering from bad mental health and releasing that in a way that ended up with jail time. I'm not sure how far we can go to help them when they won't get real solutions from talking. Many will be in their situations because of their family, friends, or geographical location. Growing up on the council estate that I did, I knew people who had been in and out of prison. And do you know the overwhelming feeling of those who either knew they were about to be sentenced? Apathy. Not apathy towards their life, but apathy towards the idea of spending time in jail. Many of them would say, "It's cool, I get to go work out a bunch, see some friends that got locked up, and don't have to worry about my life out here".
From my observations around these people it seems that it is quite hard to get long sentences for committing crime. I knew a few people that would beat up others and they'd disappear for a few months, to then return like they went on holiday. There was a guy, he was always in and out of prison for fighting or stealing. One of the last times I saw him, he ran onto a bus I was on and immediately I noticed two kitchen knives in his hands, he was in the middle of a fight with someone chasing him. He forced the driver to take him back to our area, he didn't even notice I was there and went upstairs. The cops arrive and arrest him, he was out four months later. So, it seems to be pretty hard to end up in prison for long periods, and when people are sent to prison, they really don't give a shit. I don't think that negates the idea we should be looking to reform them, but it does sour the idea of putting large amounts of money into systems for people like this, when it could be (hopefully) going to something more justified.
Right, so do we make the prisons tougher then? Well, there are even problems with that. Older prisons in the past used to be much harsher than they are now and they clearly didn't work, which is why we are where we are now with overpopulated prisons. On top of that, this study agrees that harsher punishment isn't the answer.
"Inmates housed in higher security levels are no less likely to recidivate than those housed in minimum security; if anything, our estimates suggest that harsher prison conditions lead to more post-release crime." (2)
This isn't even taking into account that you could argue from a moral perspective, is it humane to treat people so badly even if they have commit a crime? You could make prison a terrible place for people to go and have criminals genuinely terrified to go back by making it so that convicted criminals don't get visitors, they get a tin of beans for each meal, and they spend their entire day locked in their cells without a cellmate, TV, or anything to entertain them. But what would that do to the person? We are a social creature, this would cause the person to go insane and completely destroy them. Can we also say that someone who was poor, had no money, and decided to rob their local Tesco, should face this kind of treatment?
What do the numbers say about prison?
"England and Wales were used as an example. Number of prisoners increased from 44,000 to 60,000 from 1986 to 1997, but no reduction in crime was recorded. Offenders were being numbered up into jails but crime was still going up. Other scholars have argued the same thing. In February 2008, there were about 82,000 people in prison, highest ever in the country. But crimes were still up as more than half of offenders were reoffending within two years after being released from prison (Hurd, 2005: 26-27). Many prisoners have indicated that they have learned more on how to commit crimes during their imprisonment. " (3)
Overall, we know that prisons are not working by just throwing more people in. This data also suggest that we have more people in jail for committing crime, yet the crime rates are going up. So, more people are becoming criminals. There is also the feeling of a generally happy society which I imagine plays into criminality, and it's possible that Britain had more unhappy people in 1997, than 1986. What about the laws that existed on those two dates, did we invent more reasons to chuck people in jail by 1997. Let's also not forget that prison isn't just a cycle that hurts the person being sent there, but their children too, and now those children will be raised without a parent and have a higher chance to end up in a prison system themselves.
Looking at other countries, especially Norway which is considered by many to have the best prison systems in the world, it seems that not only do some countries need to soften up their prisons, but they need to go one step further and give these people a little TLC.
"In addition, since developing its new prison system in the 1990s, its recidivism rate has decreased from around 60-70% to only 20% in recent years. The main reason for these statistics is due to a focus on “restorative justice,” an approach that identifies prisons in the same category as rehabilitation facilities." (4)
I'm not sure on how they judge their crimes, so it could be misrepresenting the data. If you have a country like USA that does parole, meaning they're being sent back to prison because they either have eyes on them or fail to meet a requirement that parole asks of them. If this kind of thing doesn't exist in Norway, then of course we'd see a lower reoffender %. There is also the possibilty that we judge crimes differently, and we're more willing to send people to jail over smaller crimes.
"Norway has banned life sentences, and one inmate at the Halden facility is serving 15 years for committing murder. In a 2019 interview, Fredrik opened up about his time at the prison and his accomplishments since starting his sentence. He is currently publishing a prison cookbook, received a diploma in graphic design, aced multiple exams, currently studying physics and hopes to pursue higher education once his sentence reaches completion." (4)
Justice is extremely important because we live in an unfair world and we need a way to balance it out. With this quote all I can do is try to put myself in the shoes of the husband/wife/father/mother/son/daughter who was effected by Fredrik murdering the person related to them. Can I honestly say I'd feel that justice has been served by someone killing my wife, getting 15 years in prison, coming out with cookbooks, diplomas, and is set up to enter university immediately after leaving jail. I don't know how I'd feel about that. How would you feel? Are pedofiles also getting this same treatment, can one of these people rape and murder a child, and then be out in 15 years?
"Inmates can also choose from a range of activities and work options, which vary from prison to prison. Some offer yoga classes and ceramics workshops, others allow prisoners to cook for themselves, and some offer musical instruments. But all have the same goal of rehabilitation. Jobs offered within Norwegian prisons include metalworking and woodworking for extra pay, but each prisoner receives food, drink, soap, toothbrushes, toothpaste, and razors free of charge. Inmates can also work toward earning their bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees, while incarcerated." (5)
I realise that we need to give these people hope in a future, but it does feel odd as there are people on the outside that have never commit a crime, been a net positive to society, and are unable to go to uni because they can't afford it. They don't have the means to do things that they want to like yoga classes, or have the spare time to learn instruments. Though, saying this, I don't think that this is something wrong with the prison system in Norway and more likely tells us that those people outside shouldn't be stuck in situations where they live a less desirable life.
I would personally like to see that people don't need to be checked by employers if they have a criminal record, considering a job is the basis of any good or positive life. If you want them to reintegrate, don't put barriers up around being hired in most jobs. Obviously, if the job is around children, then they could check for pedofiles, but minimum wage retail jobs shouldn't be needing this information. It's fair at this point to say that many countries need to shift from punishment to reformation, and not just reformation in a way that England thinks making prison soft will solve the problem. But they need to put a concentrated effort into helping those in jail, and respect the fact that treating these people as scum will have them think "Cool, if that's all I am, and all I can be, I'll do it well". A few of the people I grew up with weren't bad people at their core, yeah, they were in and out in prison, but when you give someone the idea that there's no future for them in the world, they will continue to be destructive to a society that doesn't care about them.
