Prisons and their Alternatives
In 1788, Australia was established as a penal colonial system, and this focus on punishment has continued throughout Australian prison history. A sentence of imprisonment is meant to be the last possible option available to the courts. However, with Australia having 40,591 prisoners, with 12,247 of those in New South Wales (NSW) combined with a recidivism rate of 42.4%, these high statistics raise the question of whether prisons are effective in their purpose of justice. The criminal justice system's proposed purpose after punishment is rehabilitation, to stop offenders from reoffending and give offenders an opportunity through appropriate treatment to redeem themselves and reintegrate into society. With each Australian state having a high statistic of reoffending and the economic consequences of prisons, it raises the question of where prisons and the criminal justice system are going wrong.
Prisons are extremely expensive and cost Australian taxpayers $5.2 billion or more than $330 per prisoner per day in 2019-2020. Additionally, there has been a 40% increase in the cost of prison and community correction services over the past 7 years.
Prisons encourage criminal behaviours where incarcerated individuals are forced to remove all natural human responses, and where vulnerability can be exploited by others to gain respect within the system. People who are incarcerated are still entitled to humane care and have the opportunity to engage in a variety of programs for general offending, violent offences, sex offending and substance abuse. Rehabilitative environments are built on safety, procedural fairness and the promotion of non-criminal values. NSW has implemented a variety of programs in an attempt to reduce recidivism. NSW’s former Premier’s goal was to reduce reoffending by 5% by 2023; however, this goal quickly changed as the rate increased from 5% to 13.8%. Due to this, NSW quickly implemented numerous programs such as in-cell digital technology through the Offender Digital Services Program, which hopes to increase their connection to their families and maintain meaningful interactions. The Five-Minute Intervention focuses on staff being trained to engage with offenders to support and rehabilitate them, and the EQUIPS program for offenders identifies medium to high risk offending with three offence specific programs addressing aggression, domestic abuse and addiction. It can be perceived that Australia is attempting to align our criminal justice system with Norway.
The Norwegian incarceration system
Norway began reinventing their criminal justice system in the 1990s, where it utilises a system of small, community-based correctional facilities that focus on rehabilitation and reintegration into society. The Norway government prioritises the connection between the offender and their family by placing them close to their homes so they can continue to maintain relationships and have visitors up to three times per week. The prisoners have access to education, employment, mental health facilities and gyms if they behave appropriately and utilise restorative justice and rehabilitation treatments. The 2023 estimated Norwegian prison population is 3068 with the recidivism rate after 5 years at 25%, which is one of the lowest recidivism rates in the world. Norwegian correctional officers undergo extensive training to create strong personal relationships with the offenders where they will dine with them and often allow the prisoners to be unaccompanied by guards but watched by surveillance. If offenders have altercations, the officers bring them together for mediation until they have agreed to maintain peace and shaken hands. However, punishment is still evident with cell confinement and loss of privileges.
Alternatives to prison
With Australia’s criminal justice system failing and producing reoffenders, it might be time for Australia to invest further into the alternatives to imprisonment for minor offences, specifically restorative justice and community-based orders. Restorative justice brings together stakeholders who have been impacted by the crime with the focus on creating a direct interaction with offenders, victims, and community through addressing harm in order to achieve understanding and allocate responsibility. Additionally, community-based orders appear to perform better than prison in terms of rehabilitation with 76% of all community-based orders being successfully completed. Community-based orders can consist of unpaid community work, home detention orders, good behaviour bonds, drug court orders and intensive correction orders. Australia is slowly attempting to manage the increasing rates of imprisonment; however, it may benefit from reviewing countries that have been able to reduce their rate of recidivism by taking a humane approach and reconsidering the definition of punishment and justice.