Finnish Prison Blows Americans Minds

Added: 2026-05-05

[00:00:00]What's going on everyone? Uh, I'm just a typical average American here today to react to what prisons are like in Finland. So, uh, here in the United States, prisons are not nice places, and they're not meant to be. Here, going to prison is supposed to feel like a punishment, and that's what most Americans believe. But apparently in Finland, prison is different. Uh, I'm not exactly sure what that means. So, today I want to check out this video and see for myself what Finnish prison is like. So, let's take a look. This man is serving a life sentence for murder.

[00:01:08]>> I'm sorry. I'm a little body conscious.

[00:01:10]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.

[00:01:18]>> No problem.

[00:01:21]>> What is happening?

[00:01:24]This was okay. For one thing, whatever he's doing right now, having a bath outside in the ice, um, that's weird no matter who you are.

[00:01:38]Um, but this guy is a murderer. That's what they said, right? This guy murdered some. He is a criminal.

[00:01:50]So, what's what's going on?

[00:01:57]>> Okay, your turn.

[00:01:58]>> Welcome to life in one of Finland's open prisons.

[00:02:05]>> What now?

[00:02:07]Open prison.

[00:02:10]I've never even heard of that term before.

[00:02:15]Open prison. Is that a thing? I guess in Finland that's a thing. What? So what?

[00:02:21]They get like prisoners get to go outside. Like it didn't even look like I didn't even see any guards. Like nobody there's not like a a guard with a gun.

[00:02:34]like like you'd see in any American prison. This guy was just like outside taking a bath in the ice.

[00:02:45]Is this what I is this normal in Finland? What? Okay, let's keep going.

[00:02:54]Smart prisons.

[00:02:55]>> There are no cell blocks here, just dormitories. Inmates come and go in their own cars.

[00:03:04]What?

[00:03:06]Wait. Okay. I was ready for the prison system to be different in Finland.

[00:03:16]This is com this this this this couldn't be more different than the US. What do you What do you mean they have cars?

[00:03:26]What do you mean they're allowed outside?

[00:03:30]What? How? How does this work? I don't I don't understand.

[00:03:35]>> When Matty isn't at the nearby university campus, he's in his dorm room studying for a career in tech.

[00:03:41]>> Some entrepreneurship books, marketing books, user experience, all kinds of uh digital and uh 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.

[00:04:03]>> Whoa. Okay. Um I'm going to have to think about this.

[00:04:09]This is I mean for for most Americans this sounds crazy. Um, I mean, don't get me wrong, it's it's nice to see people being treated humanely. And yes, you like prisoners shouldn't be like tortured or treated inhumane, but in the US, we definitely believe that prison should feel like a punishment. You know what I was saying earlier? Um because it's like if this guy murdered someone, you know, the family of the person who was murdered, you know, do they feel like any kind of justice is being done, you know, if if if your wife or or husband was murdered, your son was killed, you know, how would you feel knowing that their the murderer is like on a laptop driving around a are like having a having a nice bath, you know. Um I don't know, maybe in Finland your sense of justice or what's your your philosophies must be different, you know, and that's fine. I just want to try to understand like if this is a good system or why it's good or what this accomplishes. So, I'm trying to be open-minded about this, but this is very different in the US.

[00:05:37]You know, people pretty much think prison should be unpleasant. Um, this guy's literally like getting a degree or something.

[00:05:50]>> In recent years, Finland has been named the happiest and safest country in the world.

[00:05:55]>> Citizens here enjoy generous public benefits, universal health care, subsidized daycare for children, and free college tuition.

[00:06:04]>> Wow. Yeah, I did a video recently about how Finland is like it's been rated one of the happiest places, like the happiest place in the world. So, obviously you guys know what you're doing.

[00:06:21]This is just the prison thing. I'm I'm waiting cuz this is this is different to me. 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.

[00:06:40]>> Okay.

[00:06:41]>> 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.

[00:06:53]>> I see. Okay. So you guys are obviously focusing a lot on rehabilitation, getting the prisoners like jobs when they get out of prison and making sure they don't end up back in prison.

[00:07:11]And I I know some of the statistics like here in the US we have like some of the most criminals, some of the most prisoners, the like a huge population of prisoners and a lot of them end up going in and out of prison and committing crimes when they get out. So I would say the American system does not focus on rehabilitation really nothing like this.

[00:07:39]So, I guess from that point of view, this is starting to make sense. Like, you treat them like people cuz they are people.

[00:07:49]They have problems. And I don't know. It's I think I understand.

[00:07:55]It's just hard to balance that with like, you know, if these are killers, you know, punishment versus trying to make them a part of society. Again, it's it's a balance, I guess. Compare that to the United States, where two out of three get locked up again within 2 years of release.

[00:08:15]>> 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 the 2.3 million people incarcerated in the US.

[00:08:29]>> It's a lot of people. 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.

[00:08:39]>> Okay.

[00:08:40]>> Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay.

[00:08:43]There's probably some stuff we could learn from Finland, even about prison.

[00:08:48]So, let Okay. 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.

[00:09:03]Oh my god, that's a bit Okay, that makes it like two different worlds.

[00:09:12]If you have That's amazing. By the way, in Finnish in Finland you have 3,000 prisoners total. Is that right? That's unbelievable.

[00:09:22]That's amazing. Good for you. Oh my god.

[00:09:26]3,000 total.

[00:09:28]So, the benefit of that is not just low crime, but you guys can focus on helping, you know, that's a pretty small amount of people. You can you can give them individual attention, rehabilitation, you can spend money on all these services.

[00:09:46]That's amazing. In the United States, I don't know if this would be possible.

[00:09:51]Even if we wanted even if we wanted to do something like you guys are doing, we have millions of prisoners and that's also like a problem that we have honestly.

[00:10:05]>> Like like we maybe we lock too many people up. I don't know. 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.

[00:10:20]>> Okay. Okay.

[00:10:21]>> In some of the latest steps, Finland's criminal sanctions agency is investing heavily in technology training.

[00:10:28]>> The first topic is uh what is AI? Uh then the second topic problem solving with AI >> and building a state-of-the-art smart prison for women.

[00:10:39]I mean, they're studying AI.

[00:10:44]They get to go outside, have cars.

[00:10:48]I think one of the biggest problems that a lot of Americans would have with this is these prisons in Finland look better than a lot of normal people in the United States. You know, if you're in the US and you're you don't have a lot of money, if you're poor, if you're in a ghetto, if you're whatever, if you're having problems, I don't think they would want prisoners to be living a better life than them.

[00:11:21]You know what I mean? So, here it would be like a kind of a problem, a contradiction. and even testing VR to provide an escape from the drab walls and fluorescent lighting of Turku, Finland's highest security closed prison. They get to use like virtual reality in prison.

[00:11:45]I think there'd be a lot of Americans trying to get in prison if this was what it was like. You know what I mean? Like this seems nice. Mika, who is 10 years into a 15-year sentence, is walking through a 3D forest.

[00:12:09]He appreciates the chance to interact with VR technology and learn the basics of working with computers.

[00:12:31]Okay.

[00:12:35]>> I mean that is good. Like if prison cuz yes that's true. It's not talked about a lot here in the US, but if you go to prison, you are supposed to come out one day, you know, probably um for a lot of prisoners, if it's not a life sentence, you're going to be released and you have to join society and that might mean understanding technology. like so yeah this is just stuff that we don't really think about here but it's very important I have to admit >> we try to uh educate the prisoners to use digital services in a meaningful way so that it would really help them to rehabilitate that help them to take care of themselves and take care of their daily affairs >> and the kind of things the kind of skills that you need when you reintegrate back to society.

[00:13:32]>> Wow.

[00:13:33]>> 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.

[00:13:44]>> Okay.

[00:13:44]>> No bars.

[00:13:45]>> Wow.

[00:13:46]>> Glass windows. An internet connection in every room.

[00:13:51]>> I don't know. I don't know. I mean, this is obviously the most humane prison I've ever seen. internet. Like, I just don't think this would ever happen in the US. Maybe we're just too cruel. Maybe we're I just don't think this would this just doesn't match American culture.

[00:14:14]Um, and it's interesting for me to actually think about that and admit it. I think Americans want prisoners to to suffer a little bit. And I know that's kind of that's like sick and not ethical, but at the same time like these are people who have committed like some of the most despicable acts and murder. And I think it's a balance between punishment and rehabilitating. And we focus on punishment and not at all on rehabilitating. That is true.

[00:14:51]>> And small touches meant for comfort.

[00:14:54]This is the our specialtity is divine.

[00:14:59]>> Yes.

[00:15:02]>> Oh, it's a nice bench.

[00:15:05]>> When it opens in this fall, the brand new facility in Ham Lena is expected to be Europe's most high techch women's prison.

[00:15:13]>> Okay.

[00:15:13]>> 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.

[00:15:27]>> Okay, >> this was before toilet.

[00:15:32]>> Jeez. So, Finland wasn't always like this. You guys have updated and re-evaluated your prison system, your philosophy on this. I mean, I like I I do like this. I like that this exists.

[00:15:49]And I think it's obvious from the statistics this works in Finland. It seems to work. Um I don't know how people feel about it. I don't know. This it's this is very thoughtprovoking.

[00:16:04]>> And where did they empty it?

[00:16:07]>> I take this and look there.

[00:16:14]The smell was terrible.

[00:16:16]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.

[00:16:26]>> Yeah.

[00:16:26]>> Cell blocks arranged in a radial floor plan. Prisoners living in solitary confinement.

[00:16:32]>> Yeah. This this is normal in the US.

[00:16:35]This is what I think of as prison.

[00:16:38]Not not very good-looking bars, not very big rooms, a lot of metal.

[00:16:46]But this is what every American thinks of as prison.

[00:16:50]>> This one is a museum now preserved to show just how hard prison life here used to be.

[00:16:56]>> Oh my god. Now, okay, this looks inhumane. Whatever they're doing here.

[00:17:01]>> For Matty, the road to reform has led him to a career that he would never have dreamed of before.

[00:17:09]really.

[00:17:12]>> 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.

[00:17:25]>> I'm eager to hear like what did you think about the first course? What you what was your general impression about it?

[00:17:32]>> It was shown quite simply what is AI, what isn't AI. So that was really good and kind of like show that it's not about magic.

[00:17:42]>> Seeing him in this meeting, it's easy to forget that Matty is still serving out his sentence for murder.

[00:17:50]>> That's really hard for me to wrap my head around.

[00:17:54]If you murder someone, you took their life away. Like so a lot of Americans think justice is well that means we're going to take your life away whether that means um the death penalty in some cases but certainly being in prison for the rest of your life. I don't know like this guy he has nice clothes. He's walking around in public.

[00:18:23]He's not in handcuffs. There's no guards. I don't know how I feel about this. Like it's it's wonderful on a on a human level to see like a human being can change and actually be a benefit to society like it looks like he is. That's a beautiful thing. But I don't know if you ask the family of the person he murdered, it it would take a lot of strength for like I feel like they must be upset to see him having so many luxuries and benefits. I don't know. H that's a tough one.

[00:19:00]>> In that time he hopes to complete a university degree and start a business.

[00:19:05]What >> one way to get kind of like employed is of course self-employment. So, and uh a lot of prisoners have already the entrepreneurial mindset.

[00:19:17]>> Like I'm happy for this guy and it's great to see he's doing well and I hope he's changed. But if he if he murdered my parents, I would not be happy to see this. Based on Matty's recommendations, Reactor is planning to add an entrepreneurship course to the prison curriculum.

[00:19:39]>> It has like enforced my trust in also like this Finnish prison system where where like giving chances to put people like you like it's it's it's awesome.

[00:19:48]>> After the meeting, Matty heads back to Loca Prison, but he is excited for the future. At the beginning of my sentence, I I thought that this is there there can only be negative things in being in prison.

[00:20:03]>> Basically, life is over.

[00:20:05]>> But I think you should give people a chance. That's the most important thing.

[00:20:12]>> That's true. That's true. There's a lot to learn here. Um like I said, this is tough. I think from as as an American I think for every American this is like very eye openening. It's a tough philosophical ethical problem. I think American prisons probably go too far but the the Finnish p prison takes it to the total other extreme. It seems to be working.

[00:20:46]Yeah. I I don't have too much bad to say about it, but I don't know. I don't think this is ever going to be a thing in the United States, but I didn't know there was anything like this going on.

[00:20:59]It's fascinating and it's cool to see people trying different stuff and, you know, criminals getting second chances um is also a beautiful thing to see. So, this was fascinating. I'm I'm I'm open-minded about this. So, very interesting. Anyway, if you enjoyed this, feel free to give this video a like or leave a comment with your thoughts. Um, especially if you're from Finland or if this was thoughtprovoking to you, that'd be cool to hear about. And if you're interested in more videos like this, feel free to subscribe for more.

[00:21:40]And until then, thanks for watching and see you next