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ORCID
N/A
Access Type
Open Access Thesis
Document Type
thesis
Degree Program
Architecture
Degree Type
Master of Architecture (M.Arch.)
Year Degree Awarded
2016
Month Degree Awarded
May
Abstract
Every year the United States corrections system costs tax payers $52 billion. The failures of the prison system are both tangible and intangible. This Thesis research builds on existing literature to seek out a solution to the high rate of recidivism post release.
Can design be employed as a tool with the potential to reduce rates of recidivism in the prison population? The City of Springfield, in Western Massachusetts, acts as a test case to examine the inter-relationships of social science, neuroscience, and architecture. Initial research identified the primary obstacles individuals face after prison that contribute to keeping recidivism rates high. This is not intended to oversimplify the issues or suggest there is an easy solution, but to provide a starting point to try something new.
Ultimately, this thesis deals with how architecture can provide a concrete solution to the deep set, less tangible roadblocks to successful reintegration. Residents often lack a sense of self-worth, personal responsibility and stable social ties. In addition to designing a building to provide the physical support system that released prisoners often lack, such as housing, access to transportation, and access to services, the project will explore techniques to serve a much greater purpose and provide a model for a re-imagined process of incarceration, release, healing and growth.
DOI
https://doi.org/10.7275/8507538
First Advisor
Kathleen Lugosch
Second Advisor
Ray Kinoshita Mann
Recommended Citation
Landrey, Kylie A., "Merging Social Science and Neuroscience in Architecture: Creating a Framework to Functionally Re-integrate Ex-Convicts" (2016). Masters Theses. 355.
https://doi.org/10.7275/8507538
https://scholarworks.umass.edu/masters_theses_2/355
Included in
Civic and Community Engagement Commons, Environmental Design Commons, Interior Architecture Commons, Place and Environment Commons, Politics and Social Change Commons