This study analyses the open prison system as a gentle way of incarceration and as a humane way of treating offenders with the objective of bringing malefactors in line with society’s accepted social norms. The primary focus of the study is on the experiences of prisoners (during their time in prison) as they enter the prison. The study also make sense of the prison’s social world, the various problems that the prisoners face both inside and outside the prison, as well as the potential hazards connected with re-entry into the outside world. The study extrapolates from the literatures on stigma faced by prisoners and the dilemmas they face as they try to become productive members of the society.

The term Gentle justice in this dissertation refers to the political and sociological understanding of Finnish penal system and to an explanation of why Finland has been able to maintain rather low rates of imprisonment since the 1960s, in contrast to opposite trends in most other Western countries. The analytical data utilised in this work comprises: A) A questionnaire survey on “Public Attitude to Crime” conducted in five major cities in Finland in 2004. The questionnaire is presented in Appendix 1. B) One year of participant observations made in Huittinen open prison including interviews conducted with 15 inmates at the time of their incarceration and after their release as well as their answers to the “Questionnaire for Inmates”. The questionnaire can be found in Appendix 2. C) The data on “The Police and Citizens actual encounters” which consists of the observations completed during a period of twelve months in a nightclub in the city of Tampere in 2002.

The dissertation utilises a mixture of quantitative and qualitative methods. In the perspective of the New School of Convict Criminology (Ross and Richards), the study offers a qualitative analysis of prison experience in an Open Prison in Finland by using one’s insider perspective to inform on the actual observations of prison life. The study accomplishes its objective through three interdependent research questions: How does open prison induce changes in inmates’ self-definitions throughout their reformatory period? How do the inmates adapt to the prison world and how do their adaptation strategies change during their prison careers? And finally, how do the inmates see their experience and orient themselves within the open prison system in Finland?

The conclusion of the study is that, the introduction of the policies which laid emphasis on rehabilitation rather than using the prison institution as mere punishment tool in Finland have contributed to a better understanding of the structure and functioning not only of prison populations but of social groups in general. In addition, these methods of prevention and rehabilitation in conjunction with correctional, educational staff within and outside the prison walls steadfastly upholding these policies have contributed to the low recidivism rate in Finland.