An urban myth debunked

You may have been taken in by one of those urban myth emails that float around our inboxes from time to time. You might have seen the one we’re about to bust for you.

The email we’re talking about arrives with a subject heading along the lines of “Can you guess what this is? You won’t believe it!!” The email contains photos of a state of the art looking facility complete with recreation spaces and lounges.

It looks clean, comfortable and well designed. It could be a seniors facility, or maybe a community or health centre.

The photos are beautiful and believable and it looks like a pleasant place to be.

It’s the next sentence that sparks a sense of outrage and indignation! “THESE ARE PHOTOS OF A NEW PRISON FACILITY, JUST OUTSIDE OF TORONTO!!!!!!!!!!!!!” The email we received did actually include the ALL CAPS and bold for emphasis!

This is entirely false. Almost.

The first part is true. These are indeed photos of a prison facility, but not in Toronto. These photos are of the Justice Center Leoben, a minimum security prison in Austria. A combined court and prison complex dedicated to rehabilitation, Leoben is for inmates from all walks of life but they are carefully selected for their motivation to change. It runs more like a shared accommodation facility in an attempt to prepare people for the real world when they are released. Prisons are commonly not a great training ground for the world beyond their walls. It may be because we forget that, except in very rare situations, people do get out and live back in their communities. The more prepared they are to make this transition, the better their chances of not returning. As Graham Stewart (former Ed of John Howard Society Canada) once said: “You can’t teach people how to play tennis in a submarine.” Likewise, it’s hard for people to change attitudes and behaviour in an environment that doesn’t remotely resemble real life.

Prison is the withdrawal of liberties and freedoms. It is not meant to be punishing but rehabilitative. The motto of the Justice Center Leoben is “All persons deprived of their liberty shall be treated with humanity and with respect for the inherent dignity of the human person.” While this prison is only marginally more expensive than other facilities, their recidivism rate is minimal to none. The model has also been replicated in Norway’s Halden Prison with similar success.

Someone out there started floating these photos as an attempt to say that in Canada and the US (it was also said to be a jail in Chicago…. which isn’t true) prisoners receive better treatment than seniors and those in need of hospital care.

Let the myth be busted.

The story has been misrepresented and the photos are not from here. But even if they were, the idea that people are keen to go to jail for the nice facilities is as real as the idea that people are keen to go to an oncology ward because they have shiny new equipment there. It just doesn’t make sense.

Here’s hoping you think carefully about the next mythical email that wings its way into your inbox.