People might think convicted felons solely deserve retribution, but it has been proven ineffective in avoiding recidivism. Retribution is defined as punishment being inflicted on someone for a wrong or criminal act, whereas rehabilitation is the action of restoring someone to a healthy or normal life through training and therapy. Inmates have lost their freedom and are serving time as their punishment, however, rehabilitation in and after prison is the key to helping prisoners avoid repeating offenses once released back into society.
In the article How Norway Turns Criminals into Good Neighbours, Norway realizes that a punitive “lock-up” approach does not effectively change the behavior of inmates and by moving away from this approach, they are sharply cutting reoffending rates. Instead of guards working to establish a “masculine, macho culture with a focus on guarding and security”, they can now focus on rehabilitation and interacting with inmates as if they are not convicted felons, serving as role models, coaches and mentors. Everyday inmates participate in activities alongside guards like yoga and eating meals, encouraging socialization. With this rehabilitative and social approach, the prison can feel more like home and less like an entrapment they are stuck in. This method has proven to be effective, reducing recidivism rates to only 20% after two years in Norway, compared to 50% in the UK.
These methods do come with a higher cost to maintain the prison. A place at Halden Prison costs about £98,000 per year compared to an annual cost of a prison in England being around £40,000 to £60,000. However, the drastic reduced recidivism rates correlates to improvement in inmates overall health, mental stability and calmness. It is proving to be worth the extra spending, not to mention the cost savings of avoiding re-incarceration. Norway has a policy where no inmates are sentenced for life. Governor of Halden Prison, Are Hoidal, says they are essentially “releasing your neighbor” and “if we treat inmates like animals in prison, then we will release animals on to your street.” They have established that prisoners cannot be treated poorly to then be expected to act orderly and civil once they are released. The prison provides the inmates with positive opportunities and learning experiences to help rehabilitate them, no matter the crime they have committed.
It is important to continue to understand that the punitive approach is ineffective compared to rehabilitative methods in prison, probation and parole systems. TRACKtech, LLC recognizes the importance of rehabilitation as the solution to reducing recidivism and helping inmates adjust to life after prison. TRACKtech provides resources and support to keep program members on track and continuing to adjust more smoothly into society.