--- title: Nature Videos Linked to Fewer Violent Behaviors in Prisoners description: A new study finds that prisoners and inmates who watch nature videos show fewer violent behaviors canonical: https://time.com/4440974/nature-forest-prison-inmates/ author: Alexandra Sifferlin article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-08-05T16:10:56.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T23:48:08.981Z article:section: Health og:title: How Nature Can Help Prisoners og:description: A new study finds that prisoners and inmates who watch nature videos show fewer violent behaviors og:url: https://time.com/4440974/nature-forest-prison-inmates/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt978802c927b9b321/6988a15afb4eac07d288ea37/trees.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5200 og:image:height: 2925 og:image:alt: lush green rain forest. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: How Nature Can Help Prisoners twitter:description: A new study finds that prisoners and inmates who watch nature videos show fewer violent behaviors twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt978802c927b9b321/6988a15afb4eac07d288ea37/trees.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # How Nature Can Help Prisoners > Sponsored content. 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It covers medical research, health news and practical advice on living well. #### Where can I get reliable health news by email? Health Matters is TIME's weekday health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free weekday newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-health-2026q3/newsletters?i=d0b440e9-0633-43b4-88c3-ceb1286ae922&cr=time-nl-health-2026q3-v1) by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Aug 5, 2016 4:10 PM UTC  Getty Images by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Aug 5, 2016 4:10 PM UTC Watching videos of [nature](http://time.com/4405827/the-healing-power-of-nature/) can reduce levels of aggression among prisoners, and possibly lead to fewer aggressive behaviors, according to a new study. Researchers of the study, presented at the [American Psychological Association’s 124th Annual Convention](http://www.apa.org/convention/), analyzed the effect of watching nature videos on 48 inmates in a cellblock at the Snake River Correctional Institution in Oregon. Half of the inmates were shown videos of things like forests, the ocean, rivers and fireplaces with burning logs three to four times a week for a year. The other group of inmates, which served as the controls, did not watch the videos. The study authors found that the inmates who watched the nature videos reported fewer emotions like distress, aggression and nervousness. Prisoners who watched the videos had 26% fewer violent infractions compared to inmates who did not watch the videos, though the videos can’t be proven to be the cause of this change. In a statement about the findings, the study authors report that the videos are now being used in other parts of the prison due to their success. As [TIME previously reported](http://time.com/4405827/the-healing-power-of-nature/), researchers are increasingly discovering the healing effects of spending time with nature and the outdoors. Studies have shown that people healing from surgery do so faster if their room is near a window, and nature has also been shown in studies to lower blood pressure, promote cancer-fighting cells and help ease symptoms of depression and anxiety. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4440974/nature-forest-prison-inmates/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4440974/nature-forest-prison-inmates/"},"headline":"How Nature Can Help Prisoners","datePublished":"2016-08-05T16:10:56.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T23:48:08.981Z","description":"Inmates who watch nature videos have fewer violent infractions","url":"https://time.com/4440974/nature-forest-prison-inmates/","keywords":["nature","Prison","prisoners"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt978802c927b9b321/6988a15afb4eac07d288ea37/trees.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alexandra Sifferlin","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt978802c927b9b321/6988a15afb4eac07d288ea37/trees.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"lush green rain forest.","caption":"lush green rain forest.","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/nature/","name":"nature"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4440974/nature-forest-prison-inmates/","name":"How Nature Can Help Prisoners"}}]}] ```