For 13 years, the Brazilian government has offered its incarcerated citizens a simple deal: read a book, serve less time.

This “Remission for Reading” program is now serving as a template to other nations, and prison populations are enjoying similar deals in countries such as Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.

With a recidivism rate of more than 80% and the 15th highest imprisonment rate on the planet, the Brazilian criminal justice system was for decades failing its 1984 mandate which states that prisoners must have access to programs that will help prepare them to reenter society.

Remission for Reading works by offering all Brazilian prisoners regardless of literacy skill or mental faculties access to the prison library, which includes books in Braille and audiobooks for those with poor eyesight.

Once a book is checked out, the inmate has 21 to 30 days depending on the page count to finish it, and then 10 days to complete a written book report to demonstrate their knowledge of the text. Assistance is offered to those who speak different languages or who are intellectually impaired.

For each report, the prisoner’s sentence is commuted by 4 days. An inmate can submit up to 12 reviews per year, which if maxed out equates to 48 days of commuted sentence.

“We hope to create a new perspective on life for them,” Ajda Ultchak, a program teacher, told UNESCO. “This is about acquiring knowledge and culture and being able to join another universe.”

Carambaia is a Brazilian publisher focused on filling out prison libraries. The prisoners are allowed to review books, aiding in Carambaia’s publicity. According to a study conducted by the Brazilian Institute of Public Opinion and Statistics, Brazilian prisoners read nine times more than the national average of five books per year.

“Carambaia is a Brazilian publisher focused on those who are passionate about reading, and we find that no one reads more than the prisoners,” a press statement read. “By giving voice to them and using the texts they produced, we show society that they are thinking, critical beings with their own opinions, which must be respected.”

In 2021, the correctional program “Reading Without Borders” was instituted in prisons in the Karaganda region of Kazakhstan. 40 fiction works of classic Russian and Kazakh literature from the 19th and 20th centuries were selected for the pilot program to great success

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Its slightly more religious southern neighbor Uzbekistan has also formulated a redemptive reading protocol with works curated by the “Center for Spirituality and Enlightenment,” to ensure the content aligns with objectives for promoting growth in intellectual and moral capacity.

Even Russian State Duma officials are lobbying for redemptive reading in Russian prisons, with a focus on Russian literary classics such as Crime and Punishment or Resurrection by Tolstoy.

Three of these four countries heavily censor the internet, so any concerns that some of these programs may involve indoctrination are probably well-founded: although there’s precious little anyone can do more to further their intellectual and moral capacity than reading Crime and Punishment. 

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Great works of literature are meta-narratives synthesizing hundreds of similar narratives from the human experience—they offer more insight into our species’ plights and fancies than any government-prepared material a prisoner could hope to acquire.

“Books are the quietest and most constant of friends; they are the most accessible and wisest of counselors, and the most patient of teachers,” – Charles W. Eliot

WATCH a video from Carambaia about the Brazilian program…