I’ve written before about my visit to the remarkable Bastøy prison island in Norway. Bastøy is a low-security, male-only prison, which lies about 75km south east of Oslo. The 2.6km2 island hosts 115 inmates making it the largest low-security prison in Norway. Now, my son, James, from Oslo, supplies his green coffee beans into the ‘Prisonmade’ organisation run by the Norwegian Correctional Service He recently visited their roastery to help train inmates.
Back in 2016 I spent a day on Bastøy prison island in Norway. Inmates are housed in wooden cottages and work the prison farm. During their free time, inmates have access to horseback riding, fishing, tennis, and cross-country skiing. Arne Kvernvik-Nilsen, governor of the prison, leads a staff of 69 prison employees. Of this staff, only five employees remain on the island overnight. The prison is about one-hour commuting distance from Oslo.
It’s an ‘open’ penitentiary where the prisoners, some of whom are kept there for serious crimes like murder or rape, live a life in that ‘jail’ as normal as possible. While the critics brand that as 'cushy' the island folk have by far the lowest reoffending rate in Europe, reported at 16%, compared to the European average of around 70%. The governor, a clinical psychologist by profession, described their vision this way:
"You don't change people by power," he says. "For the victim, the offender is in prison. That is justice. I'm not stupid. I'm a realist. Here I give prisoners respect; this way we teach them to respect others. But we are watching them all the time. It is important that when they are released they are less likely to commit more crimes. That is justice for society."
Over the last decade a comprehensive programme of prisoner work release and training known as ‘Prisonmade’ has further improved that reoffending rate. When you buy a product at Prisonmade, you are not just buying a physical object made in prison, but you’re also aiding the rehabilitation of people who are serving their sentences. It is about providing inmates with relevant work training and education during their sentence so that the opportunities to get a job and live a life without crime after serving their sentence increase. The staff coffee project is based on the principles of the interactive prison, which encourages close cooperation between staff and inmates.
The Norwegian Correctional Service is responsible for ensuring that the content of the sentence offers inmates development and opportunities. Prisonmade is an important part of the education and work training of inmates throughout their time in prison.
The work operation consists of various production workshops in wood, metal, textile, ceramics and crafts. Other activities are kitchens and operations/services such as laundry, cleaning, or exterior and interior maintenance tasks. The workshops employ people with both relevant vocational skills and practical education and often function as an apprenticeship company so that inmates can take a vocational test during their time of imprisonment. The goal is to provide individual and adapted training that provides increased qualifications for participating in working life after completing the sentence.
Penalty coffee
From green bean to black gold. With Bergen Kaffe Brenneri (BKB) as a partner, Bjørgvin prison has established barista courses and courses in coffee roasting for inmates. Delicious smells spread throughout the area when coffee is roasted in Bjørgvin prison, just outside Bergen. Coffee production is not just there for employees and inmates to drink good coffee
In Paragrafen café, it is the factory officer, Alexander, who manages the shop, and together with inmates they roast coffee weekly. He says:
“Coffee roasting develops our senses such as smell, taste and visual processing. This is important to reduce impulsivity. We train the ability to be more actively present and take in signals from the environment. The project requires reflection, consequential thinking and decision-making. It stimulates socialisation and brings joy. ‘Trapped in days, released by time’ describes a better prison life, it conveys hope for a better future.”
They pack Straffkaffe roasted on beans from Brazil and Ethiopia supplied by James and ground for French press, espresso or filter that is packaged and sent to customers near and far. A large part of the training in coffee consists of tasting, smelling and familiarising yourself with the various processes, which ultimately end up in a delicious cup of coffee. Everyone has a relationship with coffee, but after completing the courses, those who participate have much more coffee expertise than most of us other coffee lovers have. Creating mastery does wonders for self confidence.
Penalty coffee is more than just coffee!