Here are 12 top-notch prisons worldwide – establishments that have revolutionized our perception of correctional facilities.
1. Bastoy Prison, located in Norway.
Located on Bastoy Island, this prison complex houses over 100 inmates who are often forgotten by society. Within this institution, prisoners work on lush farms and enjoy the luxuries of tasteful cottages, sunbathing, fishing, horseback riding, tennis, and more, all while adhering to minimum security measures.
2. HMP Addiewell, located in Scotland.
This is one of the best prisons in the world. With a special focus on helping inmates transition back to civilian life in a meaningful and purposeful manner, Addiewell prison ensures that its 700 prisoners are in good hands. Located in southern Scotland, Addiewell Prison, designated as Her Majesty’s prison, allocates 40 hours per week for each of its resident inmates to learn productive skills.
Explore – 10 Highly Secure Prisons Across the Globe That Are Incredibly Difficult to Escape From.
3. Otago Detention Center, New Zealand.
Otago strives to effectively rehabilitate individuals, focusing on various activities such as cooking, farming dairy, and light engineering classes. Otago provides inmates with comfortable rooms and significant opportunities to develop skills, while ensuring that security measures are not taken lightly.
4. Leoben’s Justice Center, located in Austria.
If you inquire from me, a fairly comfortable sentence would constitute all that and their fully-furnished gym, basketball court, and outdoor leisure space, along with a television, small kitchen, and an individual bathroom, each of its inmates in a solitary cell, the Justice Center correctional facility, a charming European abode for non-aggressive criminals.
Further Reading:
10 Highly Secure Correctional Facilities Across the Globe That Are Incredibly Difficult to Escape From.
Have you ever heard of Jail Tourism? Reportedly, the prison in Uttarakhand is offering a ‘Real Jail Experience’ for ₹500.
5. Aranjuez Penitentiary, Spain.
Despite the challenging circumstances, Aranjuez gives young parents who are imprisoned a chance to experience parenthood. This innovative institution provides a play area for kids and cribs with Disney characters on the walls. It allows incarcerated parents to live with their infant children during their first years, addressing the way correctional facilities often tear families apart.
6. Champ-Dollon Penitentiary, Switzerland.
The newly refurbished residences in Champ-Dollon, known for their previous overcrowding, allow inmates to feel more like university dorm-mates working together. These facilities provide ample opportunities for rehabilitation, with spacious triple-occupancy cells that include attached bathrooms.
7. Fuhlsbuettel Prison, Germany, is a JVA (Justizvollzugsanstalt) that is worth visiting.
Fuhlsbuettel JVA, a prison in Hamburg, serves as a long-term home for many inmates, providing them with access to various facilities such as recreation rooms, conference rooms, and laundry machines. The inmates residing here enjoy spacious cells that are equipped with abundant natural light, private toilets and showers, as well as comfortable couches and beds.
8. Sweden’s Sollentuna Prison.
This correctional facility houses inmates in private cells with comfortable beds and attached bathrooms. It features a spacious recreation room equipped with a TV and a couch, an open-use kitchen, and a state-of-the-art art gym.
9. Halden Penitentiary, Norway.
Halden is considered the most humane prison in the world for a reason. Every inmate enjoys comfortable quarters with a sense of privacy. This prison makes every inmate’s dream come true by providing actual functioning musical recording facilities, a fully equipped gym, a room stocked with video games, movies, and TV shows, and a recreational room for skill-building classes. It is surrounded by plenty of greenery and ample space.
10. Philippines’ Cebu Prison.
Autographs are signed by these prisoners, not only to perform for civilian audiences, but also to indulge in dancing and singing, selecting musical numbers at this correctional facility. The inmates at this facility champion the cause of inmate creativity and recreation, although the luxury standards of the aforementioned facilities may not match those of Prison Cebu.
11. Bolivia’s San Pedro Prison.
Pedro San belongs on this unique and one-of-a-kind list for being the most unconventional and comfortable prison in the world, with cafes and businesses, entire neighborhoods with families and homes, and self-appointed leaders. However, it is certainly not a luxurious prison.
12. Prison of Pondok Bambu, Indonesia.
Without a doubt, the beauty therapies and leisure courses offered in this compound filled with gardens and sculptures are extremely comfortable. The Pondok Bambu prison, exclusively for women, is outfitted with a range of amenities including air-conditioning, fridges, karaoke machines, and nail salons. However, enjoying a lavish lifestyle comes with a cost – corruption.
I hope to adopt a more comprehensive approach to rehabilitation, for instance, by exploring the correctional institutions around the world. I am not planning on going to prison, even if I were to break any laws. Hey, this is because I don’t want to end up in a prison like the one depicted in Westworld.