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Free Range Jailbirds


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Michael Healy goes inside Bastoy Prison in Norway, the world's first eco-prison and one which has been attracting a lot of attention from around the world. Everything in the prison is eco-friendly. The island facility holds 115 prisoners, including murderers and rapists. They live in houses, are not locked in and are responsible for the care of about 200 chickens, eight horses, 40 sheep and 20 cows. They also tend the fields, pick berries and fish on the prison's 30-foot boat. All very good asks Michael, but does it work?
mikehealy

11 responses // Free Range Jailbirds

  • This pod is awesome!! This reminds me of the birth of Australia. lol
    Does it work? great question...since we know our prison system is inherently flawed and just produces more pissed off criminals. But as innocent as this place looks...it scares me that the argument could also be made that it would open up the door to a form of more extreme "labor camps".
    ablindeye
  • Good story. interesting ideas
    kimrich09
  • With 1 in every 100 people incarcerated in the U.S this might be a nice option.
    indiegrow
  • Only 5 have escaped in the last ten years! that's an amazing statistic! It sounds like such a great concept, yet I don't see that happening here anytime soon.
    lmichele
  • i love this concept and completely agree with it.
    fiore
  • As someone in a state that has a prison system that is horribly awry (California) such a holistic approach is really fascinating. I was recently transcribing some interviews with prisoners that have a "privilege yard" and it was the same kind of idea -- gives them motivation to works towards something, much like remaining on this farm and not going back to closed prison. You had some great interviews and most importantly, a really original story here. It really makes you think. Good work!
    AmandaBecker
  • This was the best! In the US we use prison as a business- sweatshop labor that creates hardened criminals and sharpens their skills rather than offering options that could be used. The only thing that would have been better would be if they were offered the opportunity or option to go into organic no gmo farming! I loved it and I will spread the word- maybe one day we'll have a majority of real social programs instead of real social problems.
    LaAfricumaican
  • BRAVO!!! Hopefully this impacts someone in a high position in the united states so we can experiment with this type of rehabilitation.... the key is having them serve at least half there sentence in a traditional prison.... excellent pod!!
    MyLifeRMS
  • Someone said "with 1 in every 100 people this would be a great idea".
    And, how exactly would we pay for that?
    Sure costs are less- but building prisons like this for millions, even thousands..... it's just not going to happen. Not anytime soon.

    The reason prisons like this [and see, 5 star prison] can even be a plausible idea, let alone happen, in these European countries is because they don't have 1 in every 100 people jailed, and so their resources [money] aren't already stretched thin.
    This wouldn't happen here, not for decades. Not until there is a total and complete reworking of the system [like jailing non-violent criminals for decades, and violent criminals sometimes for less, etc etc].

    It's a great idea, and sure we can "take note". But nothing like this will happen until A LOT of other things change.
    ClaudiaVanDamage
  • Man this is a very tnteresting Pod! Good job!
    digitaldirector
  • Great story! There is a lot of truth to the philosophy behind this. "If you treat people around you good they will treat you good back. What you do to your surroundings you do to yourself." Although it is not likely that the US would replicate this exactly, there are some things that could be done now that would help.

    It may sound crazy but this is my thought. If prisoners were given a pet to take care of they would have a sense of purpose while in isolation. Pet therapy is very affective. An animal's love is unconditional and doesn't judge. When the pet returns the love, they will learn to open up their good emotions and strengthen their ability to have good feelings.

    Maybe shelter animals could be placed with them. Being kind and compassionate is within everyone, but sometimes we need to learn how to utilize these emotions to overcome the bad.

    Our prison system needs to change because as they are now they are creating more problems.
    peaceout

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