Architecture Commons^™

One of the most troubling aspects of current trends in American mass incarceration is the extent to which ‘criminality’ is produced within prison walls, primarily in the form of inmate–inmate or inmate–staff assaults. Most methods of prison or jail control have the adverse, and perverse, effect of increasing inmates’ levels of fear, terror, and ultimately violence – with stabbings, beatings, and other types of assaults common occurrences. The design of podular ‘direct supervision’ jails and their accompanying philosophies of punishment aspire to change these conditions. Direct supervision features correctional officers inside each housing unit with no physical barriers impeding supervision, …