The Finnish (or Nordic) system operates on the principle on rehabilitating inmates by reintegrating them into society, they do not confine them to a “typical” prison cell like those common in America (instead it’s akin to a college dorm with amenities). There are videos talking about the Nordic prison system you can look up to get the picture.
It’s the same with Norway: as they know that “keeping inmates in a cage beating and abusing them” doesn’t help, instead rehabilities them. (Look up Halden Prison) I mean, why is it that Finland manages to maintain a low recidivism rate while it barely scratches that in the United States?
Your answer is right in the information you provided. For some further context as well, slavery is still legal in the USA prison system so people realized they could make money with it and private prisons are a thing. They have been found providing kick backs to judges for harsher sentences, especially for minorities.
Add in the USA we don’t believe in rehabilitation but brutality with our prisons. The mentality is punishment, not reintegration. So you go to jail, get brutalized, traumatized further and then dumped with a felony conviction that excludes you from most work. You’re lucky to get a job at McDonald’s because of it.
You’ve already answered your own question.
But don’t forget culture. The USA was founded by the religious extremists we (the UK) booted out hundreds of years ago.
There is a very deep, biblical/puritanical streak running through the psyche of Americans (and to a lesser extent the English speaking world) that demands extreme punishment for wrongdoing. Rehabilitation is a dirty word, it doesn’t matter if someone commits a crime again, the whole point is that if they do they rot in prison.
I don’t understand the question.
Rehabilitation has better outcomes than punishment. Amazing.
Is this a campaign? A few days ago we had the question about how Finland is better at fighting homelessness (the post has been deleted). Now this? Maybe we can shortcut this by saying Finland is probably beating the US in any vaguely progressive statistic you can throw at them. Average temperature and GDP however are safe for the US. For the time being.
The other post may have been deleted, like maybe this one will be also, because it asks a question and basically answers it in the post below.
Why does Finland have a lower rate of people commiting more crime after being released?
Well, you listed it. A system of support to rehabilitate offenders compared to the US system of suing governments for not maintaining prisoner numbers so the prison companies can maintain profits.
Wait what? Prison companies? What haven’t you outsourced yet?
How about you also make vote counting, law writing, judges, police and national defence publicly traded companies too. What could go wrong.
Inmates can even be charged for rent and come out indebted to the prison they were assigned to
No wonder why heroin smuggling suddenly seems so appealing.
One can argue they already purchased the judges based on what their courts are doing.
while it barely scratches that in the United States?
Because they just want to make money from prisons.
Yup. Punishment vs rehabilitation is often the focus cited, but it’s more accurate to evaluate it on a scale of public necessity vs profit generator. There’s a reason why US has the biggest proportion of incarceration: It’s a system that is working as intended, and the rehabilitation vs punishment aspect is an afterthought.
It’s a system that is working as intended,
You make it sound like something good LOL
From an outside perspective, it is outrageous. Ratio of incarceration or other statistics are poor indicators of why such a system is far from good or decent or human…
Oh no. I get what they were saying.
It was never intended to be good. It IS working as intended and that is definitely not a good thing.
A criminal is at their lowest point of their life, so it only makes sense to try to provide them with the means to get up. Why keep them down, strip them of all their humanity? I think we just believe that people can change and improve so they are given some help.
Many people turn back to crime because they still don’t feel like they have a choice.
Countries with lower recidivism focus on providing the social support people often need to rejoin and contribute to society.
The focus of most US incarceration systems is profit; to exploit criminals for their near-free labor while receiving taxpayer money to house those criminals.
Additionally, most states in the U.S. charge prison inmates for their incarceration. This policy is almost never referenced in TV or movies, but 42 states and DC have “pay for stay” incarceration legal frameworks, so a prisoner can be charged for meals and rent and medical care every day they are incarcerated, then get out of jail or prison in the US and be in more debt than when they went in.
It’s also difficult to get a job as a convict in the US and get access to social support, so without any legal way to support themselves and no viable social framework by which to rejoin society, many US criminals feel forced to fall back into criminal activity just to pay for rent, food, and their children.
Yikes! That’s just so messed up. Also explains a lot.
Welcome to America. If you can’t afford to buy your own justice, you don’t deserve your freedom.
