Rehabilitation or Punishment: An Analysis of the Goals, Architecture and Effectiveness or Contemporary Prisons
| dc.contributor.advisor | Rockcastle, Siobhan | |
| dc.contributor.advisor | McWhorter, Brian | |
| dc.contributor.advisor | Kerewsky, Shoshana | |
| dc.contributor.author | Gerton, Hannah | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2021-07-27T18:46:15Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2021-07-27T18:46:15Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2021 | |
| dc.description | 67 pages | |
| dc.description.abstract | The first prisons were designed merely to house inmates while their punishments were determined. Later, the imprisonment itself became the punishment. Although early prisons were primarily focused on punishment and deterrence from committing crime, some incarceration policies were developed in an effort to rehabilitate prisoners. Various programs used education, mental examinations and even electroshock therapy to rehabilitate inmates, steering them away from a life of crime. Many of these rehabilitative programs still exist and have been expanded today, but the question remains: are such efforts effective if prison populations are still rising in most countries? This thesis will approach this outstanding question with a slightly more specific focus. If prisons not only implemented amendatory programs, but were literally built to be rehabilitative - would they be more effective? Research and personal observation have shown that the built environment can have a significant impact on occupant behavior and psychology. Keeping this in mind, it is interesting to evaluate correctional architecture, asking oneself if these facilities are designed to punish or to rehabilitate. Critically examining architectural design features can provide a baseline of factors known or believed to influence occupant behavior. Evaluating these features in conjunction with their existence in prisons may allow for the determination of the effects of correctional architecture on inmates’ outcomes. This thesis will serve as a preliminary examination of this topic; an attempt to determine the goal of contemporary prisons as places of rehabilitation or punishment, and to provide ideas for improvement. Correctional architecture has not been widely studied in terms of its effect on occupants; therefore, it is helpful to learn and adapt findings from evaluations of other institutional buildings, most often healthcare, educational and public works projects. Through my research, I have been able to create a generalized list of the architectural features believed to have the greatest impact on occupant well-being. Each of these features will be examined in more depth below. | en_US |
| dc.identifier.orcid | 156291255 | |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://hdl.handle.net/1794/26519 | |
| dc.language.iso | en_US | |
| dc.publisher | University of Oregon | |
| dc.rights | CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 | |
| dc.subject | Architecture | en_US |
| dc.subject | Prisons | en_US |
| dc.subject | Correctional Facilities | en_US |
| dc.subject | architectural research | en_US |
| dc.subject | rehabilitation | en_US |
| dc.title | Rehabilitation or Punishment: An Analysis of the Goals, Architecture and Effectiveness or Contemporary Prisons | |
| dc.type | Thesis/Dissertation |