Prisoners In Finland Live In Open Prisons Where They Learn Tech Skills | On The Ground

This man is serving a life sentence for murder. A dip in the frozen lake behind the prison is part of his regular exercise routine. Welcome to life in one of Finland's

open

prisons

. There are no cell blocks here, just dormitories. Inmates come and go in their own cars. When Matti is not on the nearby college campus, he is in his dorm room, studying for a degree in

tech

nology. In recent years, Finland has been named the happiest and safest country in the world. Citizens here enjoy generous public benefits, universal healthcare, subsidized child care, and free college tuition.

Promotional films like this one, produced by the Finnish Criminal Sanctions Agency, document how

prisoners

return to society with job opportunities and help from counselors. And the incarceration rate here is one of the lowest in Europe, a quarter of what it was in 1950. In Finland, only one in three ex-convicts ends up back in prison. Compare that to the United States,

where

two in three are imprisoned again two years after their release. A 2018 bill included sentencing reforms aimed at reducing what is known as recidivism, but

they

only apply to inmates in federal custody, just 10% of the 2.3 million people incarcerated in the United States.

Critics say the 2018 reforms are only a small first step and fall far short of the kind of significant change that Finland is so proud of. The scale, of course, is different. Today, there are fewer than 3,000 in the Finnish prison system. The number of people behind bars in the United States is equivalent to half of Finland's entire population. A reinvention of what prison is like here began almost 70 years ago, when this Scandinavian nation began building one of the most humane systems in the world. In some of the latest measures, the Finnish Criminal Sanctions Agency is investing heavily in

tech

nological training.

And build a state-of-the-art smart prison for women, and even try virtual reality to escape the drab walls and fluorescent lighting of Turku, Finland's highest security closed prison. Mika, serving 10 years of a 15-year sentence, walks through a 3D forest. He appreciates the opportunity to interact with virtual reality technology and

learn

the basics of working with computers. Now, Finland is investing in infrastructure to support that realignment, a €34 million prison that many hope will set the standard for the future. Without bars, glass windows or Internet connection in all rooms, and small details designed for comfort. When it

open

s this autumn, the new Hämeenlinna facility is expected to be the most high-tech women's prison in Europe.

But across the street, a reminder of the past. The old facility built in 1972 housed both men and women. It closed in 2019 after years of disrepair, mold and other reasons. And just a few minutes' drive away, a relic built in the 19th century and based on the American prison style still widely used today: cell blocks arranged in a radial plan,

prisoners

living in solitary confinement. This is now a museum, preserved to show how hard prison life here used to be. For Matti, the path to reform has led him to a career he would never have dreamed of before.

He connected with Reaktor, a digital agency that designs online education courses. When

they

learn

ed that he was participating in this story, they invited him to give his opinion on the program. Watching him at this meeting, it's easy to forget that Matti is still serving his sentence for murder. In that time he hopes to complete a college degree and start a business. Following Matti's recommendations, Reaktor plans to add an entrepreneurship course to the prison curriculum. After the meeting, Matti returns to Laukaa prison. But he is excited about the future.