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• The Need for Change in Prison Design

The Need for Change in Prison Design
Friday, May 15, 2009

Correctional facilities tend to have a one size fits all approach to facility design, directly impacting how prisoners are treated.

• The design spaces for male facilities and female facilities are nearly identical and provide minimal positive mental and physical stimulation.
• Costs for security, design and staffing for male prison's and female prison's is equal, with the latter in many cases resulting in higher costs even though studies show that female inmates are overwhelmingly nonviolent and complaint in prison and female detainees have minimal racial tension and gang behaviors.
• Facilities do not account for the reason a person is incarcerated but rather place prisoners through the same internal flow regardless of their crime.
• The design of correctional facilities doesn't account for prisoner age, limitations or incapacitations.

Most importantly, research shows that many facilities have a dramatic lack of long term goals with detainees other than the purpose of incarceration and punishment. Prison designs often don't take into account the need for rehabilitative programs for all inmates. Add the drastically increasing costs associated with incarceration and the formula is clear that change needs to take place.

Change needs to start with the end in mind -producing law abiding citizens that participate in everyday life outside of prison bars. The question is, can facility have an impact and reduce costs at the same time?

The answer is YES. 

See our next blog titled, "The First Step: Evidence-Based Program."

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About This Blog

This blog is a collaborative effort of the Justice group at Performa Inc. It is a platform for dialogue and the exploration of issues impacting correctional facilities, detention centers, homeland security facilities and more. The group is led by David Robillard, President of the Performa Justice Team.