How Human-Centric Normative Design Can Balance and Transform Carceral Spaces

By Kat Balster

There has long been a stigma associated with jails and prisons as being dungeon-like environments where people are stripped of not only their freedom but also their dignity. For decades, the prevailing mentality was that it wasn’t worthwhile to substantially invest in facilities built for incarceration, because why would people who had committed crimes deserve amenities and comfortable spaces?

Fortunately, over the past decade there has been a significant shift from the punitive mentality to a realization that people who cycle through U.S. jails and prisons should be provided with opportunities to become healthy, productive members of society upon release. Much effort has been made to reduce recidivism, but equally important is retention of staff members: the people who are often ‘sentenced’ to these facilities for longer than the inmates and comprise the front lines of improving outcomes.

Normative design is one tool that can help address both goals.

Correctional News curated information and ideas from experts and thought leaders regarding the benefits of normative design, best practices for architects seeking to incorporate more normative elements into correctional facilities, the importance of balancing safety with a human-centric approach, and the benefits and impacts of these strategies.

Balancing Normalization and Security

The fundamental mandate of a correctional facility is safety for the inmates, staff members, visitors and the public at large. As facilities must simultaneously serve punitive, protective and rehabilitative functions, any discussion of how to normalize a historically hardened environment must be secondary to ensuring it remains secure.

“Challenges often stem from addressing concerns about safety and security while advocating for more progressive design elements,” explained Frank Greene, senior vice president at STV. “Sharing successful examples and explaining the philosophy behind these approaches can help to overcome resistance.”

Developing a human-centric approach to detention environments and maintaining a robust security environment is also a major focus for Tony Vie, architect and partner at Elevatus.

“Incorporating natural materials or residential-like furniture must meet durability and safety standards, while still evoking a sense of normalcy,” Vie said.

Fortunately, that option is becoming increasingly feasible, as the momentum of normalization has resulted in a shift on the manufacturing side of corrections as well.

“Vendors and material suppliers have responded in the last 10-15 years, providing many more options that check all of the [normative design] boxes,” added Bill Valdez, partner at KMB Architects.

This means that more normative options than ever are available that can meet all detention-grade requirements for a facility, while also evoking a more residential feel for inmates and staff.

Deanna Dwenger, Psy.D., who when interviewed served as the executive director of behavioral health for the Indiana Department of Corrections, explained that the competing missions of a correctional facility make the decision to incorporate normative elements complicated.

“[Correctional leaders] are faced with merging all different types of people in a [secure] space,” Dwenger said. “We must aspire to treat those who need treatment the most, while also keeping them safe from the most dangerous people that the state could see at the same time.”

Elements of Normative Design

When bringing normative elements into a correctional space, Dwenger advocates for the concept of ‘locus of control.’ This model is usually thought of as internal versus external. Many incarcerated people have moved through the world prior to their imprisonment in such a way that they felt like the world was happening to them. Prison, therefore, also represents an external locus of control. Normative elements that Dwenger recommends in carceral environments provide ways to give inmates internal locus of control. This includes the ability to determine the temperature of their lighting, to adjust for white noise within their cell and to make decisions about their environment based on how they are feeling.

The idea also informs an operational philosophy of using more normative elements in gathering spaces where trust can only be developed when inmates have the opportunity to treat things well, rather than an automatic assumption that everything is subject to being destroyed.

Buildings can be also designed in such a way to create clear sightlines and provide natural light through courtyards, windows and skylights. Normalization of the exterior of the building — through large glass areas at the lobby, high-performance wall panels and generously sized windows in sleeping rooms — can all reduce the institutional feel of a correctional facility.

“It is important to incorporate features that mirror everyday life, such as comfortable seating, natural light and vibrant colors,” Vie explained.

Biophilic and Acoustic Design

Biophilic design techniques that better connect people with nature within a built space can include introducing plants, views or access to the outdoors, or images of nature. This approach has been proven to reduce anxiety and lower blood pressure in building occupants and users. These elements can evoke calmness and warmth, creating an environment that supports that sense of normalcy.

“Glass-clad polycarbonate, solid-core wood doors, wood handrails, acoustic ceilings and wall panels are essential,” Greene said. “Carpeted floors, porcelain-covered plumbing fixtures and dimmable light fixtures all contribute to a normative environment.”

In addition, Vie recommends acoustic panels for reducing noise and creating an acoustically comfortable environment, as noise reduction, especially in mental health and juvenile environments, profoundly benefits both inmates and staff from being overstimulated.

“Being incarcerated, it is almost like a sensory-deprivation problem,” Dwenger added. “You are in a cell, and it’s concrete, all the same color … and there is no control over light, sound or smell.”

Dwenger adds that humans are creatures of connectedness, designed to be in community as well as integrated with nature. When people experience sensory deprivation, and only have control over touch, that is what they exercise in that environment.

“It can turn to violence, because [inmates] are so sensory deprived being in the cell all day, every day,” Dwenger said. “Anything that can be done to stimulate senses other than touch is important.”

Staff and Inmate Outcomes

“There are people who think that prison is supposed to be the punishment, but the punishment is the removal from society, the removal of freedoms,” Dwenger added.

Integrating building and design elements that support rehabilitation and staff health in correctional spaces may have an incrementally higher expense at construction, but in the long term can reduce impact on the criminal justice system and even the healthcare system.

Many normative principles — increases in natural light, greenery, softer colors, wood-look detention materials, etc. — all contribute to a softer and more therapeutic environment that benefits the mental health of inmates and staff members. Even inmates without a diagnosed mental illness can suffer from the mental health impacts of an environment that is too sterile and too disorienting to time, place and external positive stimuli. Remembering that inmates are people, not just bodies to be warehoused, can help change the punitive mentality of decision makers and the public.

Normative design in correctional facilities represents a paradigm shift in how society views rehabilitation and incarceration. By prioritizing human dignity alongside safety, these thoughtful designs create environments that are conducive to growth and reintegration. As materials and approaches continue to evolve, the potential for transformative outcomes becomes increasingly attainable — not only for incarcerated people but also for the communities that welcome them back.Redesigning Rehabilitation How normative design’s secure, human-centric approach can balance and transform carceral spaces