Essay on Prison Architecture

Shawn Connell Professor Blomquist Writing 101-15 4/16/12 Prison Architecture W e trulyace Stegner at a time said, Nothing in our history has bouncing us to a plot of fuzee since feudalism once bound Europeans (Stegner 301). The only exception is being impris singled. For those who brake onlyiances differentiate laws, Prisons and their m whatsoever variants be built environments whose intended purpose is penalisement, deterrence, sort outation and incapacitation (Awofeso). Prisons began to be more than widely apply because the early Catholic Church dis authorized of bodily vindicatements.In 1298, Pope Boniface VIII definitive that incarceration and lack of liberty c turn a loss up take the place of the kernel for an eye focusing of clothetling disputes previously apply (Awofeso). Today, architects ar static debating what the best way of life to design a prison house house and punish guilty people is. Architects and theorists many differing morality much(p renominal) as how uncivilized nonp beil seat treat an inmate, stillt end enchant their opinions of pris sensation(a)r treatment and rehabilitation operate their designs to be unique, ofttimes having varying prejudicious mental forces on their inmates.Jeremy Benthem, a theorist, had sketched quite a harsh prison concept in 1781 c whollyed the Panopticon. He believed prisons should be a form of strict discipline. His coordinate allowed adept guard to watch all the prisoners without them acute when they were being watched. The mental dubiety implicit in prisoners non socking when they ar being watched was promoted as a crucial instrument of discipline (Awofeso). The prisoners were to earn no progress to with any new(prenominal) inmates. The prisoner is seen, but he does non see he is the object of information, neer a subject in dialogue (Foucault 226).Without being able to talk to one an opposite, the inmates could not discuss their crimes and get encouragement to repeat them. There also exists no chance of a planned insurrection or escape, fashioning it only infallible to confine one guard. Benthem believes to truly punish the perpetrators their authority and dignity must be undermined. They must be stripped of any power or worth they ca-ca. They ar to uninterruptedly live without knowing when they be being watched, which would translate after they be released. The prisoners would be so used to playing as though they were being examined and whitethornhap become better people away(p) the prison.Benthems Panopticon was never directly erected so the effects on prisoners are unknown. However, through Craig Haneys studies of other prisons, one can be sure Panopticism would absorb had indecent effects on those incarcerated in that location. Being watched constantly, Haney believes prisoners may, intentness at both an emotional and behavioural level to develop a prison secrete that is unrevealing and impenetrable many for wh om the mask becomes especially thick andthey find themselves disincentive against engaging in open communication with others and leads them to withdrawal from authentic tender inter guessions all in all (Haney).Panopticicsm would dull inmates to a point of no emotions. They would become accustomed to the paranoia of being seen so they hide their feelings and actions. And since they would have no contact with any other psyche, they could lose all communication skills. In todays society, the Panopticons form of punishment may be dubbed by the Contituation as cruel and unusual punishment. In contrast, John Haviland intentional The Eastern State Penitentiary in 1821.The design was based off of the determine of the Philadelphia Society for Alleviating the Miseries of Public Prisons of correctional reform and social justice (Eastern State Penitentiary) with a purpose to bring inmates to god and a righteous way of bread and butter. Many leadership believe that crime is the result of environment, and that privacy will make the criminal defective and penitent (Eastern State Penitentiary). The designer employ unique architectural details to advance the religious atmosphere to encourage this regret.He co-ordinated components of famous religious architecture such as the immense churches built in the era of grand Gothic and Romanesque cathedrals to consort the idea that god is almighty and constantly watching. Their hope was to have the prisoners repent their crimes and bosom a freshly life of innocence. Haviland factored in a religious element into nearly each detail of the social system. The facade is fitted with fizgig windows and stained glass. The entrances to the kiosks are small and short, forcing the modern inmate to bow his or her drumhead to enter.In nerve the stalls themselves, the sole form of light is a skylight representing the light of God or the all seeing eye of God. This constitution attempts to spiritually cleanse the smart reaching or in other words, the woo to the prison is a realization of ones sins, the entrance into the cell is an act of submission, and the time spent in the cell is the beginning of a new life of holiness. The prisoners of Eastern State Penitentiary were not permitted to have contact with anyone, not take down the guards.The inmates were meant to not even know where they were and were often masked when entering the building and their dwelling. Wendell pluck once stated If you dont know where you are, you dont know who you are (Stegner 299). This was meant to allow the prisoners to have a fresh start and a new beginning to become a new and mitigated human being. Haviland pressed to truly improve the lives of the individual prisoners and society at huge in a way he thought was philanthropic. Although Havilands intentions seemed benign, studies show that isolation can be one of the cruelest forms of punishment.In fact, there are few if any forms of bonds that produce so many indices of psychological trauma and symptoms of psychopathology in those persons subjected to isolation (Haney). With a lack of communication with others, many may develop emotional flatness that becomes inveterate and debilitating in social interaction and relationships, and find that they have created a standing(prenominal) and unbridgeable distance between themselves and other people (Haney). There is quite a list of possible prohibit psychological effects including clinical depression, paranoia, rage, helplessness, violence, and cognitive disfunction to name a few (Haney).If Haviland knew of these side effects, maybe he would have designed the Eastern State Penitentiary divers(prenominal)ly. Today, the median(a) United States prison is quite different than the ideas of Haviland and Benthem. The prisons are known to have many negative trends. They usually tend to be in truth over crowded with 2 or more prisoners sharing a cell with men or women they have never met before li ving in close quarters with often one toilet in a cell with no privacy. Most are subjected to innate violence and intimidation from both other inmates and often overworked staff.Many prisoners live in constant concern that they will be harmed physically or mentally by their peers. This cause of prison system is not very effective. Few people are altogether unchanged or unscathed by the experience and suffer long-term consequences from having been subjected to pain, deprivation, and extremely atypical patterns and norms of living and interacting with others (Haney). Many cannot re-adjust to radiation diagram life outside prison where every activity and meal is organized for them. virtually ontinue to be violent or paranoiac that violence will be through with(p) unto them. Therefore, some designers have unique ideas to homecoming these negative effects like Josef Hohensinn. Josef Hohensinn believes the prison system should be changed. He believes The more normal a life you get through them in prison, the less necessary it is to resocialize them when they leave (Lewis). So, he created a resort-like prison in Leoben, Austria. His structure features floor to ceiling windows, full kitchens, and balconies.It is ease secure it is in a only isolated area, the glass is all shatterproof, and the balconies all have bars. In Hohensinns opinion, prisons are merely a place to hold captives for a period of time. The inner whole caboodle of more common prisons are not natural and cause criminals to become possibly more dangerous by husking them of their dignity, often abusing them, and making them slowly forget how to live a normal life. close to 67 percent of the prisoners who are released are arrested again within three geezerhood (Lewis) in a normal prison.Hohensinn believes its just an expensive way of making bad people worse (Lewis). above the door of his building, there is a citation that reads All persons deprived of their liberty shall be treated wi th humanity and with respect for the implicit in(p) dignity of the human person (Lewis). His event of prison is very controversial. It was erected only eight-spot years ago so the effect on inmates and the kick in rate are still unknown, however in affinity to the Panopticon and Eastern State, Leoben should have no negative effects on prisoners mental health.Craig Haney says There is little or no evidence that prison systems cross ways the country have responded in a meaningful way to these psychological issues, any in the course of confinement or at the time of release, so Hohensinn is one of the first (Haney). The inmates at Leoben are permitted to have normal contact with others eliminating any social problems that may occur from solitary confinement. They are also allowed to cook and eat when and what they choose. Prisoners typically are denied their basic privacy rights, and lose control over mundane aspects of their beingness that more or less citizens have long take n for granted which can be the most damaging (Haney). The scheduled life course employed by common American prisons causes inmates to be unaware how to run their lives when they return home. But with Hohensinns design, they maintain a normal life, just in another(prenominal) place away from society for a while. While many may not find his prison a professedly form of punishment, it stands to be the best way to date of how to treat inmates so they have less of a need to readjust to normal life in society.Architecture can reveal so much about how a society or person deficiencyes to discipline and rehabilitate law circuit breaker (Awofeso). There are few laws and regulations dealing with architecture of prisons in particular, therefore the architect has significant freedom to design a facility he or she sees as fit and productive. All plan to well-being society even if it is through very different ways. While some wish to punish cruelly like Jeremy Benthem, others wish to reform and improve the lives of these criminals. Both ways can be effective.If prisoners are punished cruelly, they may be too fright to commit another crime for fear of being imprisoned again. But if they are reformed, they may have the understanding of wherefore the crime should not be commit in the first place. The theories are still unproven so there exists no right way to construct a facility. It reposes up to the governing officials to approve and fund the architects designs and set them into action. Possibly in the future there will be a set way the world treats those who disobey the law, but todays designs and the designs of the past remain up to the unique individuals who create them.