3.) Prison Problems

 

 

“Rising crime rates have led to an almost insatiable demand for more prison places” (SPENS, 1994, p.12).

 

Within the prison regime, prisoners frequently develop issues and learn behaviours that exacerbate their current position and are not conducive to their overall rehabilitation e.g. drug taking.

 

The English government has recently announced that nine inner-city prisons will be closed and rebuilt on brownfield sites housing 10,000 inmates. “It's an opportunity to build prisons on a more humane scale, with natural light and better facilities” (BENNET, 2015). This plan reveals that current UK prison systems are currently not functioning efficiently and are in need of transformation.

 

Michael Gove the Justice Secretary has stated: “We are about to design out the dark corners which too often facilitate drug taking and violence. We will be able to build a prison estate which allows prisoners to be rehabilitated so they turn away from crime” (WINTOUR, 2015). This evokes a sense of positive change in relation to prison design and may benefit the prisoners’ overall well-being.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Currently Victorian prison designs are at the “punitive end of the spectrum and don’t speak of redemption and rehabilitation. Many have poor health and safety records due to inmates sharing cells with open toilets which can incubate resentment” (BENNET, 2015).

 

Enabling English prisons to be modernized will allow them to be designed with rehabilitation at a forefront unlike the purely punishment principles the Victorian prisons were designed around. This transformation would hopefully aid prisoner re-integration into society and have a positive effect on recidivism rates.

 

Modern day prisons that focus on rehabilitation do not appear to be wholly successful and may have put some prisoners at risk of other issues. “At HMP Gartree there is no central atrium and the corridors are smaller which made control hard for staff and there were more hiding spaces for prisoners” (HEWISH, 2015). Risley Prison opened in 1964 and during the riots, people became trapped on the landings. Therefore, “softening devices such as vinyl flooring, better insulation and underfloor heating aren't much use if a prison fails in the creation of safety” (BENNET, 2015). This displays that it is essential for a prison to be designed around the basis of security to prevent the inmates from being in vulnerable situations which could have a negative impact on their rehabilitation process.

 

“Designers need to look at the purpose of prison, and the idea that you can simply 'warehouse' people is wrong” (BENNET, 2015 ).