Open prison

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Prison where the detainees serve their sentences with minimal supervision

title: "Open prison" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["prisons"] description: "Prison where the detainees serve their sentences with minimal supervision" topic_path: "general/prisons" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_prison" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Prison where the detainees serve their sentences with minimal supervision ::

::callout[type=note] minimally supervised prisons ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/08/HMP_and_YOI_Moorland_Open_Prison_-geograph.org.uk-_427477.jpg" caption="[[HM Prison Hatfield]], [[South Yorkshire]], an open prison in England"] ::

An open prison or open jail is a jail in which prisoners are trusted to complete sentences with minimal supervision and perimeter security, and are often not locked up in their prison cells. Prisoners may be permitted to take up employment while serving their sentence, thus encouraging them to reintegrate into society while withdrawing from criminal behavior. Without the constraints and stresses of typical incarcerations, they can discover more constructive lifestyles through support and light supervision from the criminal justice system. Such arrangements give prisoners time to improve their mental health and increase their chances of future employment. Despite these benefits, some scholars have pointed out that new forms of “pains of imprisonment” can emerge within open prisons, arising from the stresses of “liberty under constraint.”

United Kingdom

In the UK, open prisons are often part of a rehabilitation plan for prisoners moved from closed prisons. They may be designated "training prisons" and are only for prisoners considered a low risk to the public.

Indonesia

In Indonesia, open prisons have been used to substitute immigrant detention centers and closed prison incarceration. This change has been helpful in creating a humane environment for immigrants that is less confining than incarceration and detention centers. These open prisons tend to do a better job at providing basic needs and creating better conditions than detention centers. The assistance of the International Organization of Migration contributed to Indonesia's government efforts to create alternative systems to detention. In 2018, refugees and asylum seekers no longer housed in immigration detention centers, and open prisons became one of trial substitutes for immigrants. Entry into open prisons may be dependent upon agreements to follow Indonesia law, consistently report to local authorities, and adhere to discretionary rules while being in the country.

The idea of an open prison is often criticized by members of the public and politicians, despite its success towards rehabilitation compared to older, more draconian methods. Prisoners in open jails do not have complete freedom and are only allowed to leave the premises for specific purposes, such as going to an outside job. In Ireland, there has been controversy about the level of escape from open prisons, attributed to their use by the Irish Prison Service not just to transfer prisoners suitable for open conditions, but also to reduce overcrowding in closed prisons. The idea of open prisons is to rehabilitate prisoners rather than to punish them.

Examples of open prisons

India

Ireland

Philippines

United Kingdom

;;England (men's)

Offener Vollzug in Germany

In Germany the "Offener Vollzug" is part of the rehabilitation process for about 16% of prisoners.

In fiction

Trumble, a fictional open prison in Florida, is the major setting for John Grisham's novel The Brethren.

References

References

  1. Shammas, Victor Lund. (January 2014). "The pains of freedom: Assessing the ambiguity of Scandinavian penal exceptionalism on Norway's Prison Island". Punishment & Society.
  2. (5 May 2014). "'Skull Cracker' Michael Wheatley absconds from open prison". [[BBC News]].
  3. James, Erwin. (3 January 2011). "Why life in an open prison is no holiday camp". [[The Guardian]].
  4. Reilly, Michael (6 May 2009). "Annual Report 2008". Office of the Inspector of Prisons.
  5. (7 October 2015). "Life inside the Philippines' prison without walls". Al Jazeera.
  6. [https://www.destatis.de/DE/ZahlenFakten/GesellschaftStaat/Rechtspflege/Justizvollzug/Tabellen/Strafgefangene.html Justizvollzug: Strafgefangene nach Geschlecht, Alter und Art des Vollzugs, voraussichtliche Vollzugsdauer] {{webarchive. link. (14 March 2014 from the [[Federal Statistical Office of Germany]])

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::

prisons