The Evolution of Prison Design and the Rise of the Direct Supervision Model
The modern prison design including direct supervision emerged in the 1980s whereby the National Institute of Corrections was implemented to oversee the operations of corrections facilities. Before the 1980s, the 19th century demonstrated the first “prison boom”. During this era, the Catholic Church played a fundamental role in constructing prison infrastructure (Woodruff, 2010). The increase in the population of prisons during the 1700s owed to the fact that communities were gradually relying on imprisonment as an effective form of punishment compared to previous mechanisms such as exile, mutilation, and death. For example, in England, the construction of prison facilities was compelled by the fact that the Revolution had put a stop to English authorities banishing offenders from the United States.
The introduction of the Goals Act in 1823 led to the introduction of the concept of prison design and the classification of prisons. During this period, architects designed prisons with different geometrical shapes such as circles, squares, and rectangles. The most renowned prison design during the 19th century was the Panopticon that was designed by Jeremy Bentham-the famous prison reform activists (Woodruff, 2010). The panopticon design encompassed a circular building in which the cells were on the outside wall, with the corrections administration rising in the center. The panopticon concept was unique in that it allowed the officers to observe the inmates, but not the inmates to see the guards.
The 20th century saw the emergence of another prison design called the “telephone pole” design. The telephone pole design was famous for its central corridor with housing wings that were constructed at an angle of 90 degrees from the corridor. Some of the prisons that embraced this design included the Utah Prison, Eastern State Penitentiary, and Soledad in California (Woodruff, 2010). The medical model of criminal justice triggered the implementation of the telephone pole design whereby it stipulated that inmates are not necessarily responsible for their delinquent behavior; but rather, the community had an important role in diagnosing treating the offenders’ illness (Woodruff, 2010). In simple terms, the medical model held that medical conditions, especially mental/psychological conditions, economic issues, sociological issues, and physiological problems such as lack of a balanced diet were key factors that forced offenders to commit crimes. Therefore, prison designs during the 20th century were built in a way that would encourage effective rehabilitation of the offenders and their integration to the community.
In contrast to prison designs in the past, modern prisons incorporate the direct supervision model. Within the direct supervision design, prison facilities comprise of “pods” that are clustered around a central monitoring station, instead of isolating the prisoners in cells within a linear system. Woodruff (2010) states that, since the primary goal of prison facilities is ensuring that inmates do not escape, the direct supervision model involves the facilities being surrounded by tall brick walls, large fences that are topped with barbed-electric wires and numerous guard towers wherein armed officer monitor the inmates for escape attempts and other concerns. Inmates spend the majority of their time in their cells which comprise of a toilet, a bank space, and a little open space where they can move around their cells. when not in their cells, inmates are usually taken to the exercise yards where they engage in recreational activities and close supervision from the prison guards (Woodruff, 2010). The direct supervision design ensures that inmates spend most of their time in common areas with corrections officers regularly interacting with them directly while monitoring their behavior. Consequently, the modern prison structure-function to enhance staff and inmate safety as well as fostering a more positive and rehabilitative environment for the incarcerated people.
The physical security in prisons entails the use of several layers of interdependent systems that encompass cells, gates, search equipment, locks, alarms, fences, CCTV surveillance, protective barriers in addition to perimeter intrusion detection. These systems are crucial in the corrections facilities as they mutually serve to offer multiple layers of security that function to prevent inmates from scaping (Hendrie, 2016). Cells allow the restriction of convicts’ movement as well as enhancing direct supervision and monitoring by the guards at all times. Prison cells consist of strong bars and walls that are difficult to penetrate, hence these inner layers prevent the escape of convicts while in their cells. Locks play a vital role in enhancing the security of cells. Each cell door comprises of robust locks that ensure that the cell doors do not open unless the prison guards allow them to open. Locks are usually found on the outside of prison gates and cell doors. Since the locks are located outside the gates and cells, it is often difficult to access them during escaper attempts (Hendrie, 2016). Similarly, alarms also enhance prison security and are usually used outside and around the prison facility to detect inmates who try to escape. Furthermore, alarms prevent escapes due to psychological reasons whereby if the inmates know that the areas are installed with alarms, it would give them no reasons to make prison attempts.
References
Woodruff, L. (2010) A Secondary Data Analysis of Staff Reaction to the Transition from a Linear Jail to a Direct Supervision Model in Kane County, Illinois.
Hendrie, B. H. (2016). Physical Security in Prison: Rights without Remedies. New Eng. L. Rev., 12, 269.