Lil' Beans - Healing Trauma for Children of Parental Incarceration by Fania Muthia by The New School

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Healing Trauma of Children of Parental Incarceration Fania Muthia Senior Thesis 2022 Interior Design BFA

C O N T E N T S

Project Statement

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Research

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Historical Essay: Grounding inStability Through Solace

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Site Analysis

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Site Analysis Essay

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Bibliography

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Annotated Bibliography

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Inter view 1: NR & FR, people of parental incarceration

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Inter view 2: Miriam Steele, Psychologist and Researcher

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Project Proposal

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Introductions

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Program

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Spatial Concept

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Mood Board

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Rendered Plans

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Lighting Concept

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Sections Elevations

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Perspective Collages

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Sense of Place (Studio)

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Inter views

After words

PROJECT S TAT E M E N T Parental Incarceration is a traumatic event experienced by children and adolescents due their loss of one or both parents. Stability of an individual can be rooted from beyond the individual themselves, especially when the self is connected to a body of entity – a family.

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Children require the suppor t and facility to attain the help and motivation to go past their family troubles. However, research has shown that children who have incarcerated parents are more likely to go through unhealthy behaviors and lifestyles which could lead them to life-threatening situations. This indicates that parental incarceration results in instability of a child’s life and welfare.

Therefore, I would like to provide a space for these children to find a temporar y ‘escape’ from their family problems, grounding them through solace and self-comfor t within their own situation and their place in the community from the hardships they are facing. The place will include overlapping spaces of Reflection, Ingenuity, Support and Solace, such as open community ‘garden’ space, classroom/therapy rooms and sleeping cocoon with the help of trauma professionals and specialists. This would give them the chance to meet others experiencing the same situation too,

helping them realize that they are not alone in this problem.

FANIA MUTHIA

RESEARCH

ABSTRACT When a family facing a problem and the children’s usual ‘ordinar y’ of comfor t and security is taken away – is this a sign of instability?

The United States has the highest incarceration rate in the world, with New York City alone experiencing high volumes of incarcerations. 19% of adolescents from public high schools repor t having incarcerated parents (NYC Health, 2021). The dispropor tionate consequences of incarceration impacts not only the individual who committed the crime, but their children. The ef fects of parental incarceration can have long-term impact and trauma, which could af fect the overall life and wellbeing of children. Life and well-being is seen as the main ground of the pillars of stability. This will be explored through 3 perspectives: Financial, Social, and Psychological Instability. (The data collected from the overall United States and NYC)

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Grounding inStability through Solace Some may argue that ‘home’ is where

high volumes of incarcerations, with 19%

the family is, usually a set of parents is

of adolescents from public high schools

involved in raising their children. Families

repor ting

that provide a consistent, safe, and loving

Health, 2021). In other words, there are

environment for their children can create

almost a quar ter of children from grades

unconditional suppor t and comfor t to a

9 through 12 in New York City who may

stable

But

experience lifelong trauma and are at

when a family is facing a problem and the

higher risk of many consequences that

children’s usual ‘ordinar y’ of comfor t and

come with a parent being incarcerated,

security is taken away, this could be a sign

such as familial financial, social, and

of instability.

psychological instability.

upbringing

(Haskell,

2016).

incarcerated

parents

(NYC

As parental incarceration spikes, a family can become unstable. Research has shown that families dealing with a loved one

being

put

behind

bars

especially

struggle with dispropor tionate financial costs. Financial troubles is on of the main reasons why the parents committed a crime in the first place. Yet these consequences can lead to other forms of instability within a functioning household such as the diminished oppor tunities of education, housing, employment, and especially the mental trauma that occurs with the young children’s experience of losing a loved one. New York City alone experiences FANIA MUTHIA

Financial Instability Financial

Stability

specifically

families to have a lasting comfor table

highlights the building blocks of a stable

quality of life. Parents’ roles are meant

family

the

to suf fice the needs of their families,

capability of providing access to safe

especially when it comes to shelter, food

housing, food, transpor tation, clothing

and health. In addition to the parent-child

and other necessities. This fur ther enables

separation, financial strain will fur ther

families to plan for the future and other

af fect the children’s lives if these needs

requirements needed in providing a safe

are barely met. A study conducted by NYC

environment

their

Health found that NYC public high school

children. However, this is not the case for

students with incarcerated parents have

most families with children in New York

insecure and unstable living conditions

City.

and are five times more likely to find a

economic

state,

and

such

education

for

place to rest outside their parents’ or According to the Federation of Protestant research

Welfare suggests

Agencies

or were abandoned by their parents’ or

relationship between incarceration and

guardian’s home. For students who slept

pover ty. They describe this phenomenon

away, they repor ted their parents could

as “Pover ty to Prison Pipeline”, in which

not af ford housing, therefore were placed

pover ty

in a

criminalized,

more who were kicked out, ran away

direct

there

(FPWA),

guardian’s home, including twelve times

putting

low-

foster or group home, emergency

income people at an increased risk of

housing, stay at a hotel or motel, a park ,

criminal

or other public spaces. 2

justice

system

involvement,

Fur thermore,

which fur ther deepen pover ty and can

parental incarceration is linked to poor

cause long-lasting negative impacts on

and unhealthy lifestyles. Children are less

individuals, families and communities.1 In

likely to get adequate sleep (20%) and

Char t 1, there is a correlation between

access to eat breakfast (83%). Lastly,

jail incarceration rates and pover ty rates

studies have shown that strain of reduced

within neighbourhoods (FPWA , 2019).

family income does have an impact on educational outcomes and oppor tunities

The result of pover ty and lack of

for the children, especially if they are

financial security reduces the ability for

already facing greater costs relating to

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the incarceration (visitation and phone

------

call

costs,

legal

costs

and

dif ficulty

FPWA , “ENDING the POVERT Y to PRISON PIPELINE.” FPWA:

finding employment. 3 This illustrates how

Fulfilling the promise of oppor tunity, April 2019, pp. 4-39.

financial instability can af fect provision

of human needs and the quality of life,

Incarceration and Well-being among Adolescents in New York City

especially

Public High Schools.” NYC Health: NYC Vital Signs, vol. 19. No. 3,

children

experiencing

Khan, Sana. Baquero, Maria. Davila, Marivel. “Parental

parental incarceration – a crisis. Not

Sept. 2021

only will it af fect their lives physically,

but including the fur ther consequences

of Children of Incarcerated Parents.” Ph.D. Disser tation. Depar t-

that star t with financial instability such as

ment of Sociology, University of Washington, 2017, pp. 13-14.

Knaphus-Soran, Emily. “Stigma and the Educational Experience

social and psychological instability.

Chart 1: Incarceration rates in NYC by neighborhoods.

FANIA MUTHIA

Social Instability Social degree

Stability

which

the

describes

society

the

As a result of social stigmatization,

contributes

the constant reminder of this dif ference

towards members of the society. In this

could

result

case, the way they perceive families

where they might feel power ful fear of

of incarcerated individuals. There are

shame

two main factors that result in the way

and Gates, 2011). Through sociological

members of incarcerated families get

perspective,

bonds

af fected: Social Stigma and Internalised

and

encourage

Prejudice.

conventional moral values and elements,

and/or

schools

internalised discrimination to

prejudice (Phillips

family,

peers

adherence

discouraging the involvement in criminal Social behavior

Stigma through

the

negative

disapproval

activities.

Being

told

avoid

and

not be involved with any trouble is a

discrimination based on an individual

common

social characteristics that distinguishes

as young as kindergar teners, and this

them from other individuals. Whilst most

may cause conflict within a child’s mind

stigma

(of an incarcerated parent) due to the

commonly

deals

with

physical

learning

dif ferences, this also af fects people’s

contradiction

social

wrong,

status

ultimately Parental larger

society

impact

someone’s

incarceration

structures

consequently

which

identity.

happens social

ascribing

can

cur ve

between

unlawful

acts

for

children

understanding at

school

and

coping with the sudden disappearance

within

of parent(s) back at home. Social Bond

inequality,

Theor y is of ten discussed in this situation,

characteristics

they

believe

attachment

between

through associating the role of parents

parents and children are impor tant in

and

preventing delinquency through parental

being

“marked”

criminal. 4

Through this associative process, other

control and super vision (Hirschi, 1969). 5

children

parents

Given that the parent-child relationship

term

is sentenced to prison, these children

linked

non-incarcerated

stereotypes

with

the

“criminal” with the separation between

may

“us” from “them” inorder to distinguish

behaviours

themselves dif ferently from their peers

judgement from their peers and outside-

who experience parental incarceration.

home environments.

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exhibit

delinquent as

they

feel

antisocial internalised

-----4

Knaphus-Soran, Emily. “Stigma and the Educational Experience

of Children of Incarcerated Parents.” Ph.D. Disser tation. Depar tment of Sociology, University of Washington, 2017, pp. 18-22. 5

Johnson, Elizabeth I., and Beth Easterling. “Understanding

Unique Ef fects of Parental Incarceration on Children: Challenges, Progress, and Recommendations.” Journal of Marriage and Family, vol. 74, no. 2, National Council on Family Relations, 2012, pp. 349-350.

Chart 2:

An infographic that describes negative ef fects that could occur in adolescents.

FANIA MUTHIA

Psyschological Instability Among

ever y

individual,

the crucial process of a safe, comfor table

Psychological Instability highlights the

and stable family experience for a child

unstable psychological state that occurs

as it may consequently lead to negative

amongst

consequences

individuals

that

are

going

their

upbringing.

through an intense and traumatic life

This also brings a heightened sense in

experience.

security, which allows children to have

crucial to function daily, as it plays

their own sense of stability, in contrast

large par t in our lives like motivation,

to negative consequences that af fect their

perseverance, independence, and other

psychological state and ways of coping

elements to sur vive. During the early

during stressful situations.

Psychological

stability

years of a child’s life, their environment that they are surrounded with and the

Fur thermore, there are few studies

changes that comes along with it also

that have been conducted specifically to

follows the psychological harm that can

understand the negative consequences

occur

without

having

direct

af fect

children

incarcerated

parents.

and understanding of the situation (if

Firstly, a psychological concept called

compared to teenagers and adolescents).

“Attachment

Theor y”

(Bowlby,

In an inter view with a family and child

development

relationships

exper t,

Dr.

Gail

Gross,

focused

the

between

children

1969) of and

mentioned that “A child who experiences

their primar y caregivers, categorizing

instability at an early age development is

them into 4 patterns of attachments;

under stress … Neuroscience tells us when

secure

a child is stressed from consistent pover ty,

attachment, anxious-avoidant attachment,

abuse, divorce, or insecurity that he

and disorganised attachment). This is

overproduces cor tisol … Cor tisol changes

of ten used in developmental psychology

brain architecture and impulse control. …

studies

These stressors in a child’s life can lead

family relationships. An ongoing study

including

conducted by the National Council on

behavior problems, loss of impulse control,

Family Relations (NCFR) is understanding

academic problems, social problems and

why

unintended

consequences

… substance abuse”.

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This underlines

attachment,

when

these

anxious-ambivalent

tr ying

children

are

understand

experiencing

internalising problems, and researchers

found

that

physical

respectively) in the past 30 days prior to

attachment

the sur vey.8 Hence, this data describes the

relationship, children presented insecure

alarming increase of negative behaviours

relationship

their

such as suicide and drug use amongst the

anxious-

adolescents with incarcerated parents,

and/or

and how much ef fect they take from having

This illustrates

one or both parents in prison. Therefore,

children of incarcerated parent(s) have

this calls for attention to how the children

psychological

way

of incarcerated parents may encounter

they feel a disconnection with comfor t

severe instability, and may experience

and security with their own parental

fur ther extreme psychological turn over.

separation

due and

sudden

disrupted

behaviours

towards

incarcerated

parent(s);

ambivalent,

anxious-avoidant

disorganised attachment.

instability

the

figures, which brings us to the second point. A study that fur ther elaborates the detailed data of the plausible negative

------

behaviours and mental condition of these

children is by NYC Health on “Parental

Child’s Success.” New York Family, 5 June 2019.

Incarceration

and

Well-Being

among

Haskell, Myrna Beth. “Link between Family Stability and a

Johnson, Elizabeth I., and Beth Easterling. “Understanding

Adolescents in New York City Public High

Unique Ef fects of Parental Incarceration on Children: Challenges,

School”. A few of highlights taken from

Progress, and Recommendations.” Journal of Marriage and Family,

the data were how parental incarceration

vol. 74, no. 2, National Council on Family Relations, 2012, pp.

is associated with poor mental health

348-349.

(anxiety, PTSD and depression). This leads

adolescents to be more likely to have

ceration and Well-being among Adolescents in New York City Public

seriously

High Schools.” NYC Health: NYC Vital Signs, vol. 19. No. 3, Sept.

considered

suicide

(22-31%)

and attempted suicide (19%) compared

Khan, Sana. Baquero, Maria. Davila, Marivel. “Parental Incar-

202, pp. 2-3.

to those never experienced it (8-15%). Fur thermore, they are also about 6 times more likely to have ever used illicit drugs (29% compared to 5% to non-parental incarceration),

including

tobacco

cannabis

(32-42%

and

use

and

29-30%

FANIA MUTHIA

conclusion, Overall, children of parental incarceration experience familial instability that encapsulates financially, Financially,

socially children

and require

psychologically. secure

provision

of basic human needs and quality of life, and financial instability limits them from attaining the fulfilling experience of growing up in a comfor table home. Social stigma and internalised prejudice can impact immensely in the environment the child is brought up in, which could lead to alienation and negative perspective towards the child based on something that has happened without them committing any crime to begin with. Lastly, psychologically, children’s physical and social upbringing could result in the plummeting of mental health and unhealthy behaviours that af fect the child in the long run. In the perspective of a designer, I believe that insecurity can be contrasted by ways of grounding to reach a sense of stability for these troubled individuals, such as access to help for all impacted sectors including mental health. Children’s early lives ser ve a critical par t of their future, including ones experiencing trauma in mid of their teenage years. Never theless, the lives of children of incarcerated parents are in need of help and attention for the traumatic experiences and life changes they will go through in compensation of their parent(s)’s misdemeanor in the society.

LIL’ BEANS

more info -

S I T E A N A LY S I S Chosen site : Museum of Chinese American (MOCA), Chinatown Based on this data, Chinatown + LES has the highest rates of incarceration at Manhattan. It would be appropriate to tackle the problem of incarceration in this location.

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( people of colour )

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Despite the lack of bikelanes, NYC residents still bike on these bikelane-less steets. However, it is not recommended because of the high density of people here, especially Canal street. (Biker myself, 10/10 dangerous biking location in NYC)

Note: Despite the lack of bikelanes, NYC residents still bike on these bikelane-less steets. However, it is not recommended because of the high density of people here, especially Canal street. (Biker myself, 10/10 dangerous biking location in NYC)

FANIA MUTHIA

S I T E A N A LY S I S ESSAY When thinking about a site located in

When I first got of f the 6 train at

Chinatown, one may think that the site will

the

Canal

Street

station,

only be surrounded with your stereotypical

I was engulfed with the loud noises of

Chinatown landscapes – colour ful bright

cars, people passing, business owners

lights at night, many dark alleys, crowded

and tourists. Both an over whelming and

streets, delicious food hung on the window

shocking

displays, and many more. But the subtle

comes from a quieter, residential par t of

dif ference of recognizing that Chinatown

New York. Never theless, I was entranced

that is situated in Manhattan and Chinatown

by how the culture and heritage of the

in other states may entail a dif ferent stor y.

neighborhood was filled, especially with

experience

for

immediately

anyone

who

the dif ferent languages that are written Downtown

Manhattan

known

as signage in front of the stores. But as

for being lively and a melting pot of

I stepped into the Museum of Chinese

dif ferent cultures even just based on their

American, I was surprised to see the layout

designated cultural spots such as Little Italy

and overall design of the space.

and Chinatown. These districts are rich in histor y, almost even a time capsule when

Here were my first impressions:

even just walking by. Histor y dates back from the 1800s when many immigrants

02/22

flocked to New York , especially from Asia

If the interior could speak , I could imagine

with the intention to seek better life and

hearing

work oppor tunities. The Chinese began to

objects. If the interior could speak , I could

prosper around the streets of Canal Street,

picture the sound of cr ying. If the interior

which is now the epicenter of Chinatown

could feel, I can sense the interior wants

and known as home for many families

to scream.

distant

echoes

from

unknown

living in the area despite being away from their beloved homeland. I was surprised to

And yet it was at 12 PM on a cold Sunday.

see a first-hand glimpse of the lives of the people here, including the mix of cultures

I felt like the interior did not do justice to

even within this neighborhood.

the histor y the space is tr ying to por tray,

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let alone how little space it only took to present itself as a museum. I was pleased seeing the way the museum displayed the histor y of how the Chinese immigrants arrived

the

countr y,

including

with

some vintage objects and rooms that were recreated to mimic the past. However, I looked deeper to the space and was lef t awestruck by the many unused areas with the bright light coming from the windows. But the experience going around the atrium and eventually going down the stairs felt like a massive accomplishment and relief for some reason. It is almost, as if, the interior is suddenly exhaling and breathing amidst me climbing down the stairs. With this being said, I wish to celebrate the interior much more especially with the rich histor y the site is situated in. Taking into consideration the rest of the surroundings, hoping to give much more justice to the space and the community.

FANIA MUTHIA

BIBLIOGRAPHY PRIMARYFPWA , “ENDING the POVERT Y to PRISON PIPELINE.” FPWA: Fulfilling the promise of opportunity, April 2019, pp. 4-39, https://www.fpwa.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/FPWAs-Ending-thePoverty-to-Prison-Pipeline-Report-2019-FINAL.pdf.

Van Buren, Deanna. “Designing Justice + Designing Spaces.” Designing Justice. 2021. https:// designingjustice.org/about.

SECONDARYJohnson,

Elizabeth

I.,

and

Beth

Easterling.

“Understanding

Unique

Ef fects

Parental

Prison Policy Initiative, “New York Profile.” prisonpolicy.org, n.p., Feb. 2022, https://www. prisonpolicy.org/profiles/NY.html.

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Who Pays?, “ Who Pays? Key Findings.” Who Pays? The True Cost of Incarceration on Families, n.p., 2015, http://whopaysreport.org/key-findings/.

Waxman, Sarah. “ The Histor y of New York City’s Chinatown.” The Histor y of New York City’s Chinatown, https://www.ny.com/articles/chinatown.html.

“Museum of Chinese in America.” Visit – Museum of Chinese in America, https://www.mocanyc. org/visit/.

FANIA MUTHIA

A N N O TAT E D BIBLIOGRAPHY - PRIMARY SOURCES FPWA , “ENDING the POVERT Y to PRISON PIPELINE.” FPWA: Fulfilling the promise of opportunity, April 2019, pp. 4-39, https://www.fpwa.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/FPWAs-Ending-thePoverty-to-Prison-Pipeline-Report-2019-FINAL.pdf. FPWA is an anti-pover ty policy and advocacy organisation committed to help economic oppor tunities and upward mobility for New York’s most vulnerable communities. This text undermines the problem between the relationship of pover ty and incarceration, specifically in the state of New York. From this, they discuss the problem through dissecting three sections: Pover ty is criminalised, Suppor ting Low-Income Communities, and Policy and Programmatic Recommendations. This research will benefit from the topics discussing the incarceration levels in New York City districts, the hand-to-hand problem cause and ef fect of incarceration, the relationship of incarceration of criminalization and pover ty, the negative toll of this relationship towards individuals and families, what roles can be done to suppor t this problem, ways of giving ser vice and facilities back to the struggling families, and ways to de-stigmatize pover ty and justice involvement across New York City. Therefore would help in understanding the root problem of most incarcerations in New York City and methods that can take place in suppor ting these families of process.

Khan, Sana. Baquero, Maria. Davila, Marivel. “Parental Incarceration and Well-being among Adolescents in New York City Public High Schools.” NYC Health: NYC Vital Signs, vol. 19. No. 3, Sept. 2021, https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/doh/downloads/pdf/sur vey/parental-incarceration. pdf. This text discusses the data that have been collected within the research of parental incarceration and the ef fects of adolescents’ well being in New York City. The data is executed through collecting information of students in public high school (grades 9-12) in regards to how prevalent incarceration occurs in this group, the association with poor mental and behavioural health, and unstable living conditions due to parental incarceration. The data is also separated between dif ferent types of incarceration such as both parents, either one of the parents, and neither of their parents (a member of the family). From this, they found that there is a common relationship with how incarcerations can lead to unhealthy and unstable living conditions, including how much more dramatically dif ferent to children that have both parents behind bars. This will benefit the project in understanding what happens within the New York City demographic. This is done by the New York City Depar tment of Health and Mental Hygiene with the mission to protect and promote the health and life quality of New Yorkers across dif ferent neighbourhoods– therefore a reliable source to get information from.

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Knaphus-Soran, Emily. “Stigma and the Educational Experience of Children of Incarcerated Parents.” Ph.D. Dissertation. Department of Sociology, University of Washington, 2017. https:// d i g i t a l . l i b . wa s h i n g t o n . e d u /r e s e a r c h wo r k s / b i t s t r e a m / h a n d l e / 17 7 3 / 4 0 97 2 / K n a p h u s S o r a n _ washington_0250E_18118.pdf?sequence=1. This disser tation is conducted to study the stigma and educational experience of children of incarcerated parents, with the emphasis in understanding the psychological and physical ef fects in the academic environment. This is explored through the deduction of environmental factors that take place during the process of the parent(s)’s incarceration such as family disruption, coping mechanisms, stigma and internalised ef fects. Through this, Knaphus-Sora conducted datas and information to help create variations of inter ventions in response to the problem with the hopes to improve the lives of these children. This will help with this project as it could give fur ther understanding of per formance and behaviours prevalent in the child’s life outside of the home, including brainstorming what methods that can be conducted in the project.

Van Buren, Deanna. “Designing Justice + Designing Spaces.” Designing Justice. 2021. https:// designingjustice.org/about. Deanna Van Buren is the founder of “Designing Justice + Designing Spaces” where they developed an adversarial architecture justice in response to mass incarcerations and many of its root causes. Specifically, they created developments for cour thouses, prisons, jails., community building and many more to improve the current spaces and buildings for restorative justice. This organisation is ver y interesting and will become a precedent in inspiring what can be done to fur ther improve the lives involved in the justice system through constructed environment design. This website also allows access to current designs that have been done by the organisation, which allows first hand understanding, guidance and direction to work on.

FANIA MUTHIA

- SECONDARY SOURCES Johnson,

Elizabeth

I.,

and

Beth

Easterling.

“Understanding

Unique

Ef fects

Parental

Incarceration on Children: Challenges, Progress, and Recommendations.” Journal of Marriage and Family, vol. 74, no. 2, National Council on Family Relations, 2012, pp. 342–56, http://www. jstor.org/stable/41507275. Similar to the other texts, this text did research in understanding the dif ferent consequences that parental incarceration has on children. Unlike the others, they also focused on the psychological perspective and sociological perspective which helps understanding the deeper concept of how the trauma/grief experienced by the children. Highlights of psychological perspective are when they break down the elements of the children’s lives: process, person, context and time. These 4 elements are theorised to capture the core of development in the result of proximal processes of interaction between the person and context over time. This process is called the “Bioecological Model of Human Development” (Brofennbrenner & Morris, 2006). On the other hand, a highlight from sociological perspective is “Social Bond Theor y”: argued that bonds to family, peers and schools encourage adherence to conventional moral values and acts elements that discourage involvement in criminal activities (Gottfredson & Hirschi,1990). This can lead to the child internalising the problem and exhibit delinquent or antisocial behaviours.

Prison Policy Initiative, “New York Profile.” prisonpolicy.org, n.p., Feb. 2022, https://www. prisonpolicy.org/profiles/NY.html. This ar ticle describes the New York profile of incarceration and highlights their data into easy-to-read graphs to emphasise the concerning issues of incarceration in New York state. The data is constantly updated to keep up with the changes occurring, including providing many more information about the dif ferent aspects incarceration occurs (discrimination, payments of incarceration, jail phone rates and where New York is placed compared to a nation and global level).

Reed, Diane F., and Edward L. Reed. “Children of Incarcerated Parents.” Social Justice, vol. 24, no. 3 (69), Social Justice/Global Options, 1997, pp. 152–69, http://www.jstor.org/ stable/29767028. This text gives good understanding and brief about the problem of incarceration and ef fects on children. It includes a section emphasising on inter ventions that can take place during the traumatic event a child experiences while their parents are going through the process taken in place by the criminal justice system. Some of which underlines the ef fects of incarceration like low-quality housing, lack of means of visitation, and the continued pover ty for most families involved. It is also interesting that this text is done under the lens of someone in the Social Justice field, understanding how children do get af fected by what our parents are going through.

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Turney, Kristin, and Rebecca Goodsell. “Parental Incarceration and Children’s Wellbeing.” The Future of Children, vol. 28, no. 1, Princeton University, 2018, pp. 147–64, https://www.jstor. org/stable/26641551. This text highlights the relationship between parental incarceration and children’s wellbeing. Unlike the other resources, this text explored through trend demographics, many negative behaviours and lifestyles pick up during or af ter the process of parental incarceration. This would give this project a perceptive understanding why cer tain things occur, including may more approach of design inter vention in making the experience better. They also focused on the many dif ferent factors of incarceration consequences that were not discussed in other ar ticles such as hardship and deprivation felt by the children, including programs that can be done as inter vention for the parents as well (in order to ease the process for the children). The text concluded in how despite having provided ways to help with the process, the belief that the inter vention is only ef fective can be done before, during and af ter incarceration.

Who Pays?, “ Who Pays? Key Findings.” Who Pays? The True Cost of Incarceration on Families, n.p., 2015, http://whopaysreport.org/key-findings/. Who Pays? Is a national community-driven research project which is a collaborative ef for t of the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, For ward Together, and Research Action Design. This research contributes to address the lack of representation and misrepresentation of low-income families of colour exacerbated by the criminal justice system. They work with other organisations to help compile the information, therefore providing help for the community of incarcerated families and graphical key findings that ser ves as the backbone of the organisation, and information for the public to know. The findings are mind-blowing and underlines the issues that are resulting from incarceration between individuals and of families. The numbers presented on the data describe the United States as a whole.

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INTERVIEWS

This project requires a deep understanding of the needs and wants of children and adolescents due to familal detainment. Therefore I have conducted 3 inter views:

2 people with parents who are or were incarcerated, NR & FR* - First-hand discussion and conversation with individuals that are or has experienced parental incarceration - Understanding the impact emotionally and physicially throughout the process of experiencing and reflecting.

1 clinical psychologist & child attachment researcher, Miriam Steele - Understanding the trauma framework that has long-lasting ef fect on children when a parent goes to prison.

* For safety reasons, personal information are undisclosed. Names remain as alias.

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INTERVIEW 1 questions: Brief introduction about themselves – Where are you from? What are your interests, your aspirations? Do you have any siblings? Etc.

If possible, can you give me a general idea as to what your familial situation was / is?

What adjectives would you use to describe your feelings regarding the situation?

Are your feelings/emotions still the same?

Did you find / have you found your experience to be physically and/or mentally challenging? (In what ways, if so?)... Did your experiences change depending on whether or not you were out with friends, in school, alone, and/or with your family?

Did / do you have any coping mechanism(s)? If so, what were / are they?

Have you ever spoken with someone about your experiences? Has anyone ever reached out to you?

Do you feel that there is a sense of stigma surrounding the topic? (Either at large or personally?)

Is there a place (or way) for you to express yourself? What do you imagine when you think of a place where you’re able to temporarily “escape” from your life circumstances?

What kind(s) of facilities/ser vices/environment would you like / have liked during this time to help better your mental health? (Especially for those who are just freshly going through this?)

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response: I have created a character with a stor yline based on the inter views conducted through highlighting key statements mentioned.

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VISUAL ESSAY

Scan this to see an animation of these visuals! Highlighting the long-term mental ef fect that parental incarceration has on their children.

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INTERVIEW 2 questions + response: Brief introduction of themselves + their work: What is the main goal for what you do? I am a professor at the Clinical Psychology at the New School – I am also trained as a child psychoanalyst so I do some private practice work with children, adolescents, adults, as well as teach and research at the New School. My main area of research is around Attachment Theor y and research so star ting of f at looking especially at the Intergenerational Patterns of attachment that is the way that each one’s own childhood experiences lay the groundwork or the template for the way they appear in the next generation, and also done a lot of work on the form of inter vention – a study that we did with colleagues of a hospital called the Group Attachment-Based Inter vention, which is for mothers and fathers of babies 0-3 years old tr ying to help them have more secure attachment relationships with their children that is now been spread into 8 dif ferent boroughs of NYC. Some hospitals, mainly Montefiore hospital. We also have students from the New School program that are in Zucker Hillside, Lenox Hill. The Administration of Children Ser vices has been promoting and funding that study, and then I also do a lot of work looking at the body representations and attachment.

I looked into what you do at the new school and your personal website for “Center for Attachment Research”. Could you explain more about it? Well I guess I’ve covered a lot previously so I can give a bit more context. The research, firstly, is mainly in New York but we also did it in London, England, so we have that European context as well. The work based here, however, has been over 17 years long or so.

There was a specific study you conducted on the Embodiment in Adolescence and Emerging Adulthood. It is said that the research investigates childhood trauma, attachment relationships, self-compassions and links of body awareness. Does this mean you look into how adolescents come about to be the adults they become? Yes, especially in terms of body representations, there’s a lot of young people who have dissatisfaction with their bodies, especially with women. So we were able to link that with the qualities of their experiences with their mothers and fathers in regards to their attachment, see that it connects to how they see themselves and their bodies.

What do you aim to work with the children/families you work with? I think… you know… with the state of the world and mental health, that the earlier you can star t, the better

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it is, the more power you have in your inter ventions so I think there has always been an attraction in terms of tr ying to look at things as early as possible and change the course before people gets too entrenched in psychopathology and mental ill health.

For people under 18 years old, would you say the dif ferent ranges of the developmental stages range ver y dif ferent in ways when coping or dealing with a familial problem? Could you elaborate what and how this is? Are there any dif ferences you notice between children and adolescents? (their needs, space, wants) Yes, I think development has a lot to do with how children experience and understand dif ferent things that are happening to them. So one has to be really aware of the mind of a 2-year-old versus the mind of a 5-year-old, 7 or 10 or 15 or 18… So definitely development is embedded in the whole scope of things. Are there any dif ferences you notice between children and adolescents? (their needs, space, wants) Yeah! There are drastic, huge dif ferences in terms of what they need – so the younger children would be so much more active with their bodies and moving around to play. With the adolescents, it ’s much more about them tr ying to understand their thoughts and feelings about peer relationships, teachers, parents, and so much more. Giving them more oppor tunity to talk about these things and giving them space to do all of those oppor tunities instead of just playing like other children.

Do you have any background or ever dealt with children experiencing parental incarceration? If yes, what do you know about it? If not, what would you personally like to find out if you were handling a client who is one? Yes so a lot of the parents I work with are involved in the group attachment based inter vention, and many of those themselves have experienced parents who are or have been incarcerated, especially fathers. Fathers are often the ones who are incarcerated in these instances, sometimes mothers of course. So it is an intergenerational pattern where fathers are often not a par t of the family system. A few times I have worked with those who have been incarcerated – not often – but it is more the impact on the mothers of those children and the children. Do you think that there are distinct behavioral patterns found in children between how they behave with their parents vs. themselves in let say, a school environment? I found something about how children found to be increasingly af fected by distraction in social and learning environments when dealing with dif ficult situations back at home. Definitely since the whole impact in general, of having parents who are or have been incarcerated puts a lot of stress in the family. The separation from that caregiver they have to experience, and the stress of another caregiver that is present with them. So it definitely has a negative impact outside of

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home. You know, there are interesting inter ventions to tr y to help and promote the parents to build a relationship with their children. Sometimes available by the US government, but oftentimes suppor t from peers and family around them is better than none too.

Would you say children experiencing parental incarceration are going through trauma? One of my subject inter viewees explained her experience similar to going through the dif ferent stages of grief. It is similar to a tremendous loss, depending on how many years they have spent in prison. With significant loss comes with the lack of contact and all those letters, visits, etc., they definitely have lost someone they were usually with 24/7 at home. I mean it is not quite like death but definitely ver y close. It is almost in between even.

What kind of things would you say that this could apply to what you do, such as attachment relationships with the parent ’s sudden disappearance? So definitely working ver y hard to tr y to keep that parent alive in the child’s mind as much as possible, such as visits, facetime, etc. Tr ying to work with the parent who is with the child, who might be ver y angr y with the person who is actually in prison. So I think we can definitely tr y to build inter ventions that can tr y to bring them together in some way, even given that they are unable to meet with that caregiver that is incarcerated. Such as digital platforms that can enhance these relationships.

What are the main concerns for these children that would you consider to help and provide? I think a lot of confusion, a lot of anger.. A lot of disruptive behaviors might be present, especially with the heightened emotions, the child might likely feel a sense of resentment to their caregivers. Definitely having facilities and a platform for them to speak their minds and actions can help alleviate those pain they have been dealing with.

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PROJECT PROPOSAL

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PROGRAM

USER EXPERIENCE

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S PAT I A L CONCEPT

T IRA

IT P ND A S

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M AT E R I A L PALETTE

SOCIAL AREAS

PL AY GARDEN

ZEN GARDEN

DINING & COCOON

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RENDERED PLAN GROUND LEVEL [ 1/8” = 1’-1” ]

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ENTER

BASEMENT

[ 1/8” = 1’-1” ]

ENTER

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LIGHTING CONCEPT GROUND LEVEL [ 1/8” = 1’-1” ]

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BASEMENT

[ 1/8” = 1’-1” ]

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S E C T I O N E L E VAT I O N S F1

CLASSROOM MAKE-SHIFT AMPITHEATER

TOILETS

VOID

PLAYGROUND GARDEN PLAY AREA /STORAGE

THERAPY ROOM

LOCKERS DOUBLE HEIGHT SPACE

RECEPTION COMMUNAL KITCHEN

DINING

B1 JANITOR STORAGE RESIDENT

3 COCOONS

SHOWER CUBICLES LIVING ROOM

3 TOILETS

LAUNDRY

KITCHEN

SOCIAL AREA MENTOR LOUNGE

LIBRARY

DOUBLE HEIGHT SPACE Note: Despite the lack of bikelanes, NYC residents still bike on these bikelane-less steets. However, it is not recommended because of the high density of people here, especially Canal street. (Biker myself, 10/10 dangerous biking location in NYC)

EAST SECTION

NORTH SECTION

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DOUBLE HEIGHT INTER-GARDEN experience. Transcending below towards quiet, private space for reflection and recollection. Upstairs remain commercials amongst the playground.

F1: Toilets, garden mounds with tunnels, lockers, stairs/skylight and dining. N

B1: Storage, zen garden seating, librar y, stairs and reading nooks.

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52 Note: Despite the lack of bikelanes, NYC residents still bike on these bikelane-less steets. However, it is not recommended because of the high density of people here, especially Canal street. (Biker myself, 10/10 dangerous biking location in NYC)

EAST SECTION

F1: Garden mounds with tunnels, therapy room and reception.

B1: Bedroom, living room, toilets, kitchen and dining.

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NORTH SECTION 4 main dif ferent spaces: Ingenuity, Reflect, Suppor t and Solace.

F1: Play storage, modular blocks, toilets, mounds with tunnels, classroom and more mounds. B1: Fish pond, zen garden seating, large windows (large light access), living room, toilets.

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PERSPECTIVE COLLAGES

WEST VIEW [GROUND LEVEL] From the play garden overlooking the kitchen and banquette

garden sketch 54

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plan reference

STAIRS VIEW

Looking down towards the zen garden

views ahead of the zen garden

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SENSE OF PLACE FINAL MODEL

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CLOSE-UP IMAGES

(drawn)

PL AN VIEW

SECTIONS FANIA MUTHIA

SPECIAL THANKS TO: I R FA N VA N T U I J L VEE AUTHARI THANA PRAMADONO AUDREY RAZAK SABRINA VALDES CRISTII SOSA CARAGH SHEA I N AYA K A R A CANSU CELEBIOGLU + louis the dog

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A A FF TT E E R R W W O O R R D D S S

As I write this at 2 AM on my desk in the Parsons East building (tr ying to finish this project as fast as I could!), I can say for sure that I am delighted to have gone through this journey. Throughout my years at Parsons, it has been an intense whirlwind of events between passion and exhaustion. Coming from Indonesia, the transitions of becoming a student and now graduating – feels surreal. Yet I have loved my years here and could have not asked for a better experience. Interior Design at Parsons has been an eye opening experience, as it taught me to define and create spaces beyond what is expected. College has not always been easy on me nor my family, but my years here made up all the struggles to get me to this point. I have always adored the suppor t system within my peers and professors, constantly motivating me to move for ward despite the hurdles that needed to go through. Having COVID in the middle of my studies has brought both advantages and disadvantages to my life, whether it is skill sets, workspace, friendships, etc. I do have to say, I wish I had more time to explore my skills and gain more knowledge about using cer tain sof twares to aid my design concepts. However, I hope what I have learned is translated through my works and the ef for t I have put in all my projects. This capstone is ver y, extremely dear to me. Hits a little too close to home and I tried my best to put together a cohesive stor y in a space dedicated for the people who need it the most. I dedicate ever y thought and process of this project to my loved ones and friends who are going through this situation as it is not an easy experience to go through. Courage takes time, and I hope this project gives hope and confidence to whoever needs it the most. I am super grateful for ever yone that has been on my side and comfor ted me through my studies. I would not be here without all the lovely people that have pushed me towards this point. To all the professors I have had, I am really grateful for all your guidance and constantly inspiring my methods of approaching design. I also would like to give the biggest hugs and kisses to my family back in Indonesia since they could not be at my graduation this year, but I have so many stories to tell – Cheers to a crazy new chapter!

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SENSE OF PLACE FANIA MUTHIA

I designed a garden space dedicated to a multipupose playground for children and adolescents to gather – a place for play, ampitheater, learning and socializing.

plan view

[north]

section elevations

[east]

I have written a letter in a form of poem by one of the children that visits the site regularly

send

their

parent

who

currently incarcerated. This mimicks the act of the sending letters to a detained loved one, except this poem describes how I want the children to feel when they enter the site.