INTRODUCTION

The architecture and design of prisons have yet to be updated for decades at best, in most countries centuries. Prison is one of the most public institutions when one is behind bars, yet so radically private from the people on the outside; the majority of which have never even stepped inside a prison. Although expected, the lack of privacy within this type of institution is astounding and can lead to a long list of mental and physical health issues. It is a tough balance to grant prisoners privacy while making sure the safety of the prisoners, corrections officers, and visitors is not sacrificed. Many argue that the criminals of the world do not deserve privacy or a nice place to be locked up, defending their statement with safety concerns, while some simply believe that prison or jail are places of punishment rather than rehabilitation. However, to this argument, I would say how can one expect a prisoner to grow and change their ways while being treated like a caged animal?

An extreme lack of privacy can have detrimental effects on one’s mental and physical health, not only making it near impossible for an inmate to make strides towards bettering oneself for a future release, but adding depression and psychosis to the obstacles ahead. The United States of America does little to assist the incarcerated people within the country, dehumanizing each inmate from the second they walk through the prison doors. My goal is to create a facility where recently released inmates can live while they are getting back on their feet and readjusting to society. A place in which this specific user group, post-incarcerated people, can feel safe and normal while undergoing a huge life change. The ideal result of the rehabilitation center being an improvement in the mental and physical health of the individual, increased job placement, and a sense of home. Each result works to break the cycle of recidivism, one person at a time.

DISCIPLINE & PUNISH: THE BIRTH OF THE PRISON

It seemed only right to begin my research by looking into the start of prisons and how forms of punishment have evolved throughout time. Michel Foucault speaks of this and much more in his 1977 book, Discipline & Punish: The Birth of a Prison. Discipline & Punish covers the movement away from public punishment and torture to private punishment and prisons. What stood out to me the most while reading this book was the attention to the violence of the criminal versus the violence of the state, as well as the shift in how criminals are punished by the state. Rather than punishing the physical body of the criminal, the state has turned to the torture of the mind and soul of the individual. Foucault himself calls the soul the prison of the body. While the physical body may be intact, the minds of inmates are being lost to severe mental illness. The appalling conditions of the prison environment and extreme lack of privacy do nothing to rehabilitate the inmates and often worsen the mental and physical health of everyone involved. “Surveillance is permanent in its effects, even if it is discontinuous in its action” (Foucault). In other words, the constant surveillance and mental abuse, among many other factors, have a lasting effect on the prisoner that will haunt them upon their release back into society.

The Panopticon

The Panopticon is a perfect example of the unbelievable living conditions for inmates and was a key component in Michel Foucault’s theory of punishment. This disciplinary concept was introduced by Jeremey Bentham in his collection, The Panopticon Writings. The Panopticon Writings were twenty years in the making for Bentham, the Panopticon itself being a concept for a model prison system (Verso). The system created lacks complete and utter privacy with the inmates under constant surveillance in their cells. The model prison is situated around a central observation tower within a circular layout of cells. This layout allows for guards to have views into each cell at all hours of the day (Bentham and Božovič). An example of a prison in which this design concept is utilized is Statesville Correctional Center in Crest Hill, IL. Largely considered one of the worst prisons in the country, it was closed in 2016 for unbearable living conditions. This design concept has been very controversial in the world of prison design, earning the title of a cruel, ingenious cage (Foucault). Although many prisons do not embody the layout of the Panopticon, the unsettling amounts of surveillance and living conditions presented in the concept are apparent in all types of penal institutions. In today’s day and age, it is important now more than ever to create forms of rehabilitation for inmates when everyday people are wrongfully convicted and put behind bars. What is stopping you, or a loved one, from being next?