Learning From European Prisons
Dianne Frazee-Walker
Imagine a perfect world where the recidivism rate is low, prisons are not overcrowded, and offenders are rehabilitated. The correctional system in some European countries, such as Germany and the Netherlands have made this a reality.
In February, a group of American corrections officials, judges, prosecutors and public defenders conducted research that proves the United States has a lot to learn from European countries about correctional rehabilitation. The group took the initiative and took a trip to Europe to investigate what was working for European prisons. The differences they discovered between the European and American penal system were astounding.
Germany and the Netherlands incarcerate one-tenth the rate of the U.S., where sentencing time is considerably longer. These American judicial officials spent a week visiting prisons in Germany and the Netherlands. The consensus was that the determining factor for these European countries’ success is their approach is directed more towards social reintegration than punishment.
A new report based on the group’s findings indicates that the failing American prison system has a hopeful chance of recuperating from the faltering situation it is in by adopting some of the European penal procedures that are working.
Practices in Germany and the Netherlands allows inmates to prepare for release ready to face the world as productive citizens. During the time inmates are serving their sentences they are allowed a significant amount of discretion over their lives.
Inmates are granted individual privacy and the privilege of making their own decisions about their lives. Some can wear their own clothes and cook their own meals.
Interaction with correctional officers is respectful. Prison staff are educated to use innovative management and conflict resolution skills along with security training.
Germany and the Netherlands use incarceration only when appropriate. Community-service programs, probation or fines are alternatives to prison time. American prisons impose much longer prison sentences than European countries. While the average state prison term in the United States is about three years, more than 90 percent of Dutch sentences and 75 percent of German sentences are 12 months or less.
