> If we want incarceration to make people less criminal, not more criminal, then the prisoners should not be spending their time with criminals. The prisoners s

> If we want incarceration to make people less criminal, not more criminal, then the prisoners should not be spending their time with criminals. The prisoners should be spending their time with mentors, teachers, and counselors. I immediately think of Nordic prison systems, where even the highest-security prisons are usually set up as an idealized microcosm of the outside world, with real living spaces, personal prisoner responsibility for preparing meals and cleaning up, grocery shopping and money management, workshops and classes, jobs that are designed for real vocational training, etc [1]. The recidivism rates are around 20% (some of the lowest in the world), with specific prisons approaching 15%. [1]: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2013/feb/25/norwegian-prison-inmates-treated-like-people https://www.theguardian.com/society/2013/feb/25/norwegian-pr...