In some prisons, prisoners are given a set amount of money and they must decide, as a group, how to spend it for food at the commissary and arrange for cooking and cleaning schedules. The goal is to leave the prisoners with as much control over their own lives as is compatible with minimal safety and order. Prison industries which pay real wages have been attempted in Sweden and elsewhere. The effort to prepare prisoners for reintegration has led to other changes, in other countries. In England, a probation officer is assigned to each prison and interacts with prisoners before their release.4 Swedish prisoners can choose who they wish to be their probation officer during their post-release period.
Prison sentences serve one purpose-to keep people confined.
Another method widely used to ensure that prisons function as humanely as possible is to increase external supervision. All British prisons have a Board of Visitors whose job it is to inspect prisons and ensure that prisoners are not mistreated or that their rights are denied. These boards are composed of local citizens. In France, as one would expect, external supervision is exercised by a sentencing judge who has to visit each prison to which he or she is assigned once a month. In Scandinavian countries, prisoners can appeal to the ombudsman who has the authority to investigate complaints.