1st Edition

Health and Well-Being in Prison Design A Theory of Prison Systems and a Framework for Evolution

By Alberto Urrutia-Moldes Copyright 2022
288 Pages 87 Color Illustrations
by Routledge

288 Pages 87 Color Illustrations
by Routledge

288 Pages 87 Color Illustrations
by Routledge

This book establishes a new framework for prison design to promote the health and well-being of all prison users. Based on international research in Norway, Finland, the USA, and Chile, and drawing on the expertise of key international advisors, this book uniquely reveals the perspectives of both designers and prison authorities concerning well-being in prison architecture. It is the first book... Read more

Introduction

What is this book about?

Why health and well-being in prisons?

The relation between health and well-being

The challenge of health and well-being in prisons

Structure of this Book

PART I: THEORETICAL AND HISTORICAL FOUNDATIONS

Chapter 1: Theoretical standpoints

The roots of well-being

Seligman’s theory of well-being

Critical Realism: a theoretical lens to understand imprisonment

Chapter 2: Punishment and prison design

Ethical considerations in prison design

The justifications for punishment

Building a typological theory of prison systems

Chapter 3: Evolution of prison models from the birth of the prison to the nineteenth century

From late antiquity to the prison reform

The birth of the Security prison model: Nineteenth-century prison reform in the US

Scandinavian Repressive system before the Rehabilitation prison model

Latin American prison development and the Repressive roots of its Hybrid model

Chapter 4: Prison models: recent history, and development from the twentieth century to the present

Prisons designed for behavioural change

Safety prison model development

The Rehabilitation, prison model’s consolidation

Hybrid prison model in Chilean and Latin American prisons in the twentieth century to date

PART II: HUMAN FACTORS AND THE IMPORTANCE OF THE HEALTH AND WELL-BEING OF PRISON USERS

Chapter 5: Why should prison design promote health and well-being?

The role of health and well-being in prisons and prison design

International concerns related to health and well-being in prison

Latest developments in prison architecture research

Chapter 6: Environmental stressors to health

Physical environmental stressors

Psychological environmental stressors

Summary of findings

PART III: CASE STUDIES FROM THE HYBRID, THE SECURITY, AND THE REHABILITATION MODELS

Introduction to Part III

Chapter 7: International Advisors

Prison Policy Advisors

Prison Health Advisors

Comparative analysis between both groups

Key emerging themes and Meta-themes

Chapter 8: The Hybrid prison model

Chilean prison design in the context

Analysis

Thematic areas emerging from High-level Staff interviews

Thematic areas emerging from prison designers' interviews.

Key emerging themes and Meta-themes

Chapter 9: The Security prison model

Prison design context in the US

Analysis

Thematic areas arising from High-level Staff interviews

Thematic areas emerging from Independent Designers’ interviews

Key emerging themes and Meta-themes

Chapter 10: The Rehabilitation prison model

Prison design context

Analysis

Thematic areas emerging from High-level Staff interviews

Thematic areas arising from Governmental Designers’ interviews

Thematic areas emerging from Independent Designers' interviews

Key themes emerging from the Rehabilitation prison model

PART IV: TOWARDS A NEW OUTLINE FRAMEWORK FOR PRISON DESIGN

Chapter 11: Cross-case comparison of prison models

Summarising and organising individual case findings

Cross-case comparison among high-level staff

Cross-case comparison among designers

How and why are some issues ignored?

Chapter 12: Towards a new outline framework to design prisons that promote health and well-being

Building the new outline framework for prison design

Organised hypocrisy in prison services

Recommendations for promoting health and well-being in prison design.

Appendix A

Appendix B

Appendix C

References

 

Biography

Alberto Urrutia-Moldes holds a PhD in prison architecture from the University of Sheffield in the UK. He also has a BSc in Industrial Engineering (2008) and a BSc in Construction Management (1993), both from the University of the Bío-Bío in Chile. After graduating as Construction Manager, he started working in the construction industry for private companies until 1998, when he was appointed head of the regional office of infrastructure at the Bío-Bío Regional Directorate of the Chilean prison service in the city of Concepción. In this capacity, Alberto was responsible for addressing the needs of the 24 prison and parole facilities across 14 cities in the Bío-Bío region. He was later appointed as the head of the projects and planning office at the same regional directorate. In tandem with his job in the Chilean prison service, he has worked since 2006 as a part-time lecturer in construction management at the School of Construction Engineering at the University of the Bío-Bío. In 2012 he co-organised – with the Faculty of Architecture at the University of the Bío-Bío – the first conference in prison architecture held in Chile, and then co-edited the book 1st Seminar of Prison Architecture for Social Reinsertion, which contains the main presentations of the two-day conference. In 2014 he moved to the UK, where he started his PhD programme, being awarded a Doctoral degree in March 2020.

"Health and Well-Being in Prison Design is an overview of how prison architecture and design can support psychological and ethical principles to enable offenders’ rehabilitation. I highly recommend this book to those who want to develop the prison system."

Pia Puolakka, Project Manager of Smart Prison project, Criminal Sanctions Agency, Finland

"Health and Well-Being in Prison Design is an academically grounded plea for more humanity in prison design. Prisons are not containers for holding human beings securely. Dr. Urrutia-Moldes reminds us that well-designed prison facilities are essential for the enhancement of inmates’ health and well-being. A much-needed guide for prison designers and policy-makers, this book pinpoints key human factors affecting well-being in prison and, ultimately, the prisoners’ rehabilitation chances. The important message is that there is no need to choose between security and well-being in prisons. Security can be strengthened by improving the inmates’ well-being, also through careful and considerate prison design."

Piera Barzanò, former Senior Interregional Advisor (Penal reform), UNODC, Vienna

"In this book, you will identify the philosophies behind architectural models of prisons, which focus on repression, security, rehabilitation, or hybrid approaches. By disclosing the physical and psychological aggressors on the well-being of inmates and prison staff, this monograph emerges as a critical tool to make evidence-based decisions, particularly for developing countries, to promote positive and lasting change."

Alberto Urzúa Toledo, Director of the Centre for Public Innovations for Latin America

"Dr Urrutia-Moldes has written a comprehensive, must-read text on how the justice system can contribute to a more civilized society through improved design of prisons. His analysis of the pathways to intelligent and humane prison design is excellent. This book will serve as a wake-up call for prison designers as well as correctional authorities.

I recommend this book to anyone interested in the development of our prison systems. It will give you a rare insight into prison design, whether you are a government official, social scientist, designer, or first-year student. I hope that this book will be a required curriculum in education, from prison staff to students of architecture and social sciences.

Health and Well-Being in Prison Design by Dr Urrutia-Moldes is a good read and highly relevant for designers not only of prisons but also of other social institutions for vulnerable citizens."

Stein Erik Laeskogen MSc., Principal Engineer, The Norwegian Directorate of Public Construction and Property (Statsbygg)