A Revolution in Prison Design

Prisons are failing

A new approach is needed because prisons today are a very expensive failure.  Estimates vary, but in the UK imprisonment costs an average of at least £30k per prisoner per year.  Two-thirds of all prisoners, and three-quarters of young prisoners, are actually reconvicted within 2 years of being released from prison (and, of course, the number who actually reoffend is higher than that).  There are other significant costs of failing to turn criminals away from a pattern of repeat offending: the cost of police and court time; the cost of support and compensation for victims of crime and prisoners’ families; the cost to businesses and individuals.  Some estimates put the cost of crime in the UK at a staggering £12 billion per year.

Why don’t prisons rehabilitate offenders?

A very high proportion of prisoners have an extensive history of social exclusion, physical violence and anti-social and gang behaviours.  Many of them are products of material and emotional deprivation, broken families, disjointed and failed education, failed and abusive relationships, lack of opportunity, experience and achievement in work, and chronic physical and mental health problems.  Frequently, they abuse drugs and/or alcohol as a coping mechanism and they turn to gang culture for protection and identity.

Rehabilitation involves breaking the powerful grip of this background and changing the way prisoners think and act and the way they are pressured by peers to think and act.  If we accept that this is the context which surrounds all prison activity, then we can understand that the many highly commendable ‘activities’ designed for prisoner rehabilitation, in the form of work, recreation, education, ‘treatments’ and ‘programmes’, are rather like periodic doses of medicine delivered in the hope that sufficient ‘good effect’ will be absorbed to inoculate against previous bad experiences and prevailing bad influences. In most cases the impact of them is woefully insufficient, due to the constraints of a traditional prison environment, and too easily reversed by influences at work when a prisoner returns from regime activity to his wing or house block.  In the Mitson Academy Prison, positive, engaging, reforming activity influences ‘the total experience of imprisonment’.

Human warehouses

It is crucially important to look at the way we have been building prisoner living accommodation (prison ‘wings’ or ‘house-blocks’) for the past 200 years.  These high, echoing halls with their galleried landings were originally designed for the Victorian’s ‘separate system’ and ‘silent system’.  Perhaps they served those purposes well.  In today’s prisons they serve little purpose other than to warehouse human beings.  In prison wings, activity (association) is unstructured and peer influence is at a maximum, contact with staff is optional and staffing levels are reduced to a minimum.  It is here where taxing, bullying and drug dealing occur, where debts are settled, where intimidation takes place, where despair sets in, and where the culture of the gang and the street asserts itself.  It is here that all the negative and harmful effects of today’s prison culture flourish and effectively undo the good that dedicated staff and excellent interventions might otherwise achieve.

The Mitson Academy Prison

The Mitson ‘academy’ model is an original concept designed by Stuart Mitson and based on many years experience, observation and analysis of how, why and when prisoners react positively to prison regimes and what, for the most part, prevents them from doing so at a level that really impacts.

Although it is a radical departure from traditional prison design, the Mitson Academy Prison does not compromise on security, safety, control and decency.  The Mitson model is neither difficult nor costly to build and operate. Independent sources have estimated it to be 10 to 15 per cent cheaper in construction costs and energy consumption, and capable of delivering up to 20 percent more regime hours for no higher operating cost than a standard prison. At the heart of this new concept is the creation of a different kind of prison architecture and an environment in which prisoners have more opportunity, and far greater incentive, to engage with prison regimes at a deeper, more meaningful, level, to make prison the positive, reforming experience it should be and to enable prisoners to resist falling into the destructive, negative culture which invariably pervades so much of prison life.   

Advantages of the Mitson Academy Prison

Prison design has not changed significantly for nearly 200 years.  This does not mean that there is no viable alternative; it only signifies that thinking itself has become ‘imprisoned’ by tradition and regulation.

The Mitson Academy Prison resolves the majority of problems that confront and frustrate prison staff and hinder the rehabilitation of prisoners.  It is a solution which involves changing the architecture to deliver the regime differently. The following list is not exhaustive but indicates something of the range of special features and important advantages of the new design.

·         It is a totally new architectural and regime solution which delivers all the requirements of security, safety, control and decency in either the same way or, in most instances, more effectively than a traditional prison.

·         Despite being so different in approach, so effective and so targeted on achieving change and rehabilitation, the solution is simple and cost effective.

·         The design is a significant improvement on any traditional ‘custodial environment’. It is a safer, healthier place for prisoners to live in and for staff and prisoners to work in.

·         Living accommodation and activity spaces are de-institutionalised, being replaced by a new type of prison architecture which is lighter, more open, purposeful and better supervised and controlled.  

·         The new approach addresses the key issue of preventing the development of negative prison culture. The prisoner’s ‘total experience of imprisonment’ is focussed on his development and improvement opportunities.  Everything about his experience is positive and purposeful.

·         Prisoners become more absorbed and engaged with the regimes designed for their rehabilitation.

·         The opportunities are highly visible, available and accessible. No part of the regime is soft or tame or uninspiring. Prisoner motivation is automatic.

·         Engagement with the regime in this new setting generates responsible behaviour, not just conformity.  Participation gives prisoners identity and status.

•  The quality  of  food and standard of food hygiene is improved. Food serveries are designed and operated differently to avoid bullying and other incidents.

·         Prisoner attitude and behaviour is changed, based on experiencing a different sense of identity and status than that of just ‘being a prisoner’.  The Mitson prison design compels strong identification with the positive activities that prisoners engage in.  This generates a positive self-image, a sense of purpose and the prospect of achievement.  In traditional prisons, a prevailing sense of ‘being a prisoner’ only reinforces low status and lack of worth.  A positive image, a reason for focus and a sense of identity and self worth within an improved de-institutionalised environment will reduce incidents of self-harm, bullying and gang behaviour, lessen reliance on substance misuse and generate an overall healthier community environment where prisoners have respect for themselves and others.

• A new sense of identity and self-worth also impacts positively on  relationships between prisoners and their  families and between families and prison staff. 

·         The ritual of prisoner ‘mass movement’ to/from work and other activities ceases. At best, this is a wasteful exercise that reduces the time available for purposeful activity and frustrates staff by causing delays and non-attendance.  At worst, it can be a dangerous time for particular individuals or a general threat to security and good order.

·         There is easier, safer, contained and controlled access to core regime activities at all times from unlock to lock-up.  Extension of the traditional (short) working day and flexibility of working hours is instantly and easily achieved.  

·         There is, in reality, reduced prisoner circulation and more actual containment in the Mitson Academy Prison, but the easier and more flexible access to activity generates a perception of greater freedom and self-determination for prisoners.

·         Discipline and specialist staff work together in integrated, supported, informed teams and no members of any staff group can feel isolated and vulnerable. The balance of control is always with well supported staff who can be more confident and more effective in their dealings with prisoners.

·         The prison becomes a ‘total learning environment’ which generates motivation and secures commitment.  Improvement in numeracy and literacy, development of social skills, training for work, cognitive-behavioural change, etc, are all centred around and rooted in the core activities that are the very fabric of the prison. Peer tutoring and mentoring are inherent and of significant value.
 

·         Discipline staff (wing staff and personal officers)  spend more time constructively with prisoners.  This assists good prisoner-staff relations, delivers better, intelligence-based security and  aids accurate risk assessment.   Staff are available to prisoners (and vice versa), more of the time - a constant problem for personal officers in a traditional prison setting.  

·         Prisoners are more ‘contained’ and more ‘visible’ to staff.  Those who are initially unable or disinclined to co-operate with the regime are readily identified so their issues can be managed at an early stage.

·         Staff from all disciplines work together in mutual support and engage with prisoners at a deeper, more influential level. The role of the prison officer is enhanced and the job made rewarding and achievable  - important for safety, stability and good occupational health.

·         A Mitson Academy Prison is exciting, engaging and purposeful for both staff prisoners and means a once and for all end to the negative effects of ‘human warehousing’. 

·         Rehabilitation is better achieved because prisoners are less alienated, less disconnected from mainstream society.  The new design approach secures direct involvement from all kinds of local community-based ‘sponsor’ organisations. This not only ensures that regimes are relevant but it conveys to prisoners the real prospects of being self supporting, engaging in work, continuing in learning, pursuing development and change opportunities and being accepted in the community after release.