[0:00]This man is serving a life sentence for murder. I'm sorry, I'm a little body-conscious, as you can see. I've gained a few pounds. A dip in the frozen lake behind the prison is part of his regular workout routine. No problem, it's ok.
[0:19]Okay, your turn. Welcome to life in one of Finland's open prisons.
[0:29]There are no cell blocks here, just dormitories. Inmates come and go in their own cars. When Matty isn't at the nearby university campus, he's in his dorm room, studying for a career in tech. Some entrepreneurship books, marketing books, user experience, all kinds of digital and IT studies. And we have this kind of normality principle that prisoners should be treated equally, even though they are prisoners, but they should have access to same services and rights as as other citizens. In recent years, Finland has been named the happiest and safest country in the world. Citizens here enjoy generous public benefits, universal healthcare, subsidized daycare for children, and free college tuition. Promotional films like this, produced by Finland's criminal sanctions Agency, document how prisoners are eased back into society with work 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 former convicts ends up back in prison. Compare that to the United States, where two out of three get locked up again within two years of release. A 2018 bill included sentencing reforms meant to reduce what is referred to as recidivism. But they only apply to inmates in federal custody. Just 10% of 2.3 million in US prisons. Critics say the 2018 reforms are only a small first step and fall far short of the kind of meaningful change 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 US is equal to half of Finland's total population. A reimagining of what prison looks like here started nearly 70 years ago, when this Scandinavian nation began building one of the most humane systems in the world. In some of the latest steps, Finland's criminal sanctions Agency is investing heavily in technology training. The first topic is, "What is AI?" Then the second topic, "Problem-solving with AI." And building a state-of-the-art smart prison for women. And even testing VR to provide an escape from the drab walls and fluorescent lighting of Turku, Finland's highest-security closed prison. Mika, who is 10 years into a 15-year sentence, is walking through a 3D forest. Terrible to take off those glasses, you know, return to this reality again. He appreciates the chance to interact with VR technology and learn the basics of working with computers. I should add that there are prisoners who have been free and come back, and they've said very straight that you can't manage, that everything is so different, everything is so computerized.
[3:45]So it would be good to get some teaching. We try to educate the prisoners to use digital services in a meaningful way, so that it would really help them to rehabilitate and help them to take care of themselves and take care of their daily affairs and the kind of skills that you need when you reintegrate back to society. Now, Finland is investing in the infrastructure to support that readjustment. A 34 million euro prison that many hope will set the standard for the future. No bars, glass windows, an internet connection in every room, and small touches meant for comfort. This is our specialty. is divan. Yes.
[4:42]When it opens in this fall, the brand new facility in Hami is expected to be Europe's most high-tech women's prison. But just across the road, a reminder of the past. The old facility built in 1972 once housed both men and women. It shut down in 2019 after years of disrepair, mold, and other reasons. This was before toilet. And where did they empty it? I take this, and put there. The smell was terrible. And just a few minutes drive away, a relic built in the 19th century and modeled on the American style of prison that is still widely in use today. Cell blocks arranged in a radial floor plan, prisoners living in solitary confinement. This one is a museum now, preserved to show just how hard prison life here used to be. For Matty, the road to reform has led him to a career that he would never have dreamed of before. He connected with Reactor, a digital agency that designs online education courses. When they heard he was participating in this story, they invited him to give some feedback on the program.
[6:07]I'm eager to hear like, what did you think about the first course? What was your general impression about it? It was shown quite simply, what is AI and what isn't AI. So that was really good, and kind of like, show that it's not about magic.
[6:35]One way to get kind of like employed is of course self-employment. And a lot of prisoners have already the entrepreneurial mindset. Based on Matty's recommendations, Reactor is planning to add an entrepreneurship course to the prison curriculum. This has like enforced my trust in also like this Finnish prison system where where like giving chances to people like you. It's awesome. After the meeting, Matty heads back to Loka Prison. But he is excited for the future. At the beginning of my sentence, I I thought that this is there can only be negative things in being in prison, that basically life is over. But I think you should give people a chance. That's the most important thing.
