COWS HELP REHABILITATE PRISONERS IN SWEDEN
MARIESTAD— It’s barely 6 a.m. and Alfred is already busy milking cows.
But when his chores on the farm are done, he won’t be going home—he’ll be returning to his prison cell.
‘Open prison’
In Sweden, which prioritizes rehabilitation over long prison sentences, Alfred is one of 60 inmates preparing to reintegrate into society at a minimum security “open prison” functioning as a farm in the town of Mariestad, about 300 kilometers southwest of Stockholm.
Imprisoned since April for illegally possessing a gun, Alfred, a grandfather in his 50s who is due to be released in November, can’t hide the joy he gets from spending time with the animals.
“I like them ... they calm me down,” he says with a sigh, wearing a cap, his arm covered in tattoos.
In this agricultural prison called Rodjan—the biggest of the Swedish penitentiary system’s three farms—his routines are the same every day.
He meets up with his work assignment partner Sofian (both names have been changed to protect their identities) in the morning for two and a half hours of work and then once again in the evening.
“I clean [the udder] to avoid the bacteria, then I disinfect it” before pulling the teats, Alfred says enthusiastically.
Fewest prisoners
Other inmates work on the farm watering the plants, repainting the gates and mowing the lawn. And a dozen of them are in charge of the livestock.
Sweden is among the countries with the fewest prisoners in the world: there are 0.5 inmates per 1,000 inhabitants, which is half of that in France (one per 1,000), Swedish and French prison data show.
The Scandinavian nation spends twice as much as France on each detainee, including those placed under surveillance, and works hard to avoid confinement.
Instead, it prefers to put people on probation, favors widespread use of ankle monitors, sentences people to community service and releases prisoners after two-thirds of time served.