Security Architectural Detention Design for Juveniles and Women (SiHaJF)

The KIRAS project SiHaJF aims to develop a contemporary structural and organizational recommendation guideline for detention facilities that is specifically geared to the needs of juvenile and female inmates in the Austrian prison system.

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Research Areas

Social Justice, Inclusive and Secure Societies, Governance and Economics

Sustainability and Environment

Research Center

Research Center Building and Design

Department

Building and Design

Administration, Economics, Security, Politics

Juveniles and women make up only a small proportion of the total prison population in Europe, which leads to marginalization. The project “Secure architectural prison design for juveniles and women” examines the existing structural and organizational conditions in the prison system from an interdisciplinary perspective, combining criminal sociology, law, and architecture. The project takes a gender-sensitive and socio-psychological approach to address the specific needs of these vulnerable groups. The overall goal is to improve prison conditions and educational, work, and leisure activities to make it easier for inmates to build a self-determined future. The project will therefore develop a set of recommendations that include sustainable, security-related and standardized measures, taking the needs of all user groups into account.

The interdisciplinary project team is made up of experts from the fields of Architecture – Green Building and Risk and Security Management at the Hochschule Campus Wien, as well as the Institute for the Sociology of Law and Crime at the University of Innsbruck.
The project is divided into four work packages: In addition to project coordination, it includes the theoretical analysis of national and international findings, detailed analyses of the organizational and structural conditions in selected correctional facilities, and the creation of a structural and organizational recommendation guide.

The results should contribute to the humane design of the prison system for juveniles and women in Austria.

The project is funded by the Federal Ministry of Finance as part of the KIRAS programme and is being carried out by The Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG).

Research Goals

Development of a contemporary structural and organizational recommendation guideline for detention facilities, which focuses on the needs of female and juvenile inmates in the penal system
Gender-sensitive construction recommendations based on social, economic and ecological sustainability
Recommendations on building and structural accessibility to work, education and training opportunities
Recommendations on social-organizational measures such as employment for successful and sustainable reintegration into society
Security architectural framework conditions that are coordinated with the needs of all user groups (inmates, prison guards, specialist services)