question: Are prisons the best and most efficient way to reform?

On any average day in 2015/2016 there were a total of 40,147 adult offenders incarcerated in Canadian federal and provincial prisons (a rate of 139 per 100,000 population).  Incarceration is an expensive method of reform, and a highly debated topic when it comes to the outcome. 

The average annual cost per prisoner in federal prisons is around $115,000.  Total public spending on criminal justice in Canada per year is approximately $20 billion.

How does Canada’s approach compare to other countries, globally?  And how can we measure the effectiveness of the approach?  Is there a better way?​

Prisoners per 100,000 people, by country (2018)

SOURCE: World Prison Brief

Two Year Reconviction Rates in Released Prisoners

​SOURCE: National Center for Biotechnology Information
 
The data is complex, but there are several questions the above information brings to mind.  What are the different approaches to reform that result in such variable numbers?  And if one method is more effective why aren’t more countries adopting the philosophy?
 
Norway, for example, relies on a concept called “restorative justice”, which focuses on rehabilitating prisoners.   “The punishment is you lose your freedom.  If we treat people like animals when they are in prison, they are likely to behave like animals.”  20 years ago, Norway moved away from a punitive “lock-up” approach and sharply cut reoffending rates.  The focus is to prepare inmates for life on the outside with vocational programs: woodworking, assembly workshops, and even a recording studio.
 
America, by contrast, adopts a more punitive approach – Americans want their prisoners punished first and rehabilitated second.   While high-security prisons in the U.S. often involve caging and dehumanizing a prisoner, prisons in Nordic countries are designed to treat them as people with psychosocial needs that are carefully attended to.
 
If the restorative approach achieves the lowest reconviction numbers, why aren’t more countries adopting it?  One possible reason is cost – the “Nordic approach” is almost twice the price per inmate as a more punitive approach in the UK.  Ultimately though, a shift in thinking is required.  The same approach to crime has been taken for centuries, and an acknowledgement that it is not working is required before anything can change.
 
When looking at the number of prisoners, the cost of the incarceration, and our arguably sub-par reconviction rate, I am led to believe the approach to reform here in Canada warrants change.  How we begin to make that shift is another topic for discussion…

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