The document provides an overview of prison systems around the world through descriptions, statistics, and images. It begins with a brief history of the first American prison established in 1790 in Philadelphia and contrasts the inhumane treatment of prisoners at that time with more rehabilitative approaches taken in Scandinavian countries today. Subsequent sections cover specific aspects of prisons in the United States, Mexico, and Nordic countries like Norway. Images and videos illustrate the varying conditions inmates face. The second floor map outlines galleries on topics like the experiences of Mexican women in prisons and the impacts of solitary confinement and lack of mental healthcare.

1. Incarcerated
‘Experiences of a Forgotten
Population’
Yuseff Hamm Jr.
1

2. Cell Block W
The first American prison(Walnut street penitentiary) was constructed in Philadelphia in 1790 to
serve as an alternative to capital punishment. This edifice was built by Quakers who wanted the qualities
of hard work, reflection, and spirituality to guide those convicted with serious crimes. However, the reality
was much different than the idealized dream of the Quakers. Convicts were thought of as slaves who had
no rights and were subject to inhumane treatment. As such, violence against inmates became the norm:
prisoners were beaten, forced to consume milk of magnesia(laxative), forced to undress, and given terrible
living conditions by any standards.
Undeniably, there was a lack of interests in rehabilitating prisoners. Instead, inducing suffering on
inmates seemed to be a way for guards to inflict their own standards of justice. To some, this inhumane
treatment was/is justified and others see this behavior by guards as criminal activity, which should be
subject to punishment as well. In contrasts to American prisons, the prisons of countries like Sweden,
Norway, and Denmark seem to be setting the standard for the treatment of a prison population that will
mostly reintegrate into society. The ethics of prisoner treatment and all that entails is a convoluted issue to
quander. However, we will see how the prison system, from architecture to personnel, influences all who
step inside prison walls. Please let this experience be informative and transformative. Thank you.
2

3. Floorplan [Cell Block W]
3
2D Model- In Floorplanner 3D Model- In Floorplanner

4. South America
Similar to those in the U.S., drug offenders account for most of the prison
population
Mexico has the largest American prisoner population outside of the United States
The Mexican government is focused on the text of laws rather than previous court
decisions(Napoleonic Code)
Only Guatemala still exercises the death penalty(no pardons given)
Overcrowding: In Venezuela(prison population of 53,000), The U.N. agency
reports that overpopulation in the country’s prisons stands at 231 percent. In
Brasil, the Carandiru penitentiary, which was built to hold fewer than 4,000
inmates, housed nearly 8,000 at the time of operation
In South America(2013) 943,000 people were incarcerated where 354,000 were
awaiting trial or sentencing
United States ○ Mexico ○ Norway
4
Meridith Kohut
Photo of Izalco Prison, El Salvador
The New York Times 2012

5. El Altiplano
Daniel Becceril
Photo of Topo Chico prison in Monterrey, Mexico
Business Insider 2016
United States ○ Mexico ○ Norway
5
Thomson Reuters
Photo of El Chapo’s Cell, Altiplano, Mexico
Business Insider 2015

6. United States
At +2.2 million people, the US has the highest prison population in the world
Over 5,000 jails and prisons in the U.S.
There are more jails than colleges in the US.
About ½ of the prison population are serving time for nonviolent drug offenses
$29,000 spent annually to incarcerate prisoners
The Smarter Sentencing Act would save $24 billion in taxes over the next 20
years
United States ○ Mexico ○ Norway
6
Book Cover
America: Land of the Free?
(2011)
By: Adam Bilzerian

7. American Cell
United States ○ Mexico ○ Norway
7
Amendment Prevented, Amendment Google, Jake,
Amendment Basic, Google Search, Civil War,
Children Citizens, Image Showing, 14Th
Amendment
The Bill of Rights
8th Amendment, Issue: School Discipline
http://billofrights-gcms.weebly.com/8th-
amendment.html
Victor Jackson, cell block A, cell #4.
Louisiana State Penitentiary
Angola, April 17, 2000
Prison Photography
Giles Clarke/Getty Images Reportage

8. Rikers Island-Kalief Browder
A 16 year old, from the Bronx, NY
2010, Charged with stealing a backpack and awaited trial in
Rikers Island.
Was finally released in 2013, but not before attempting
suicide several times while incarcerated.
While free, he attempted to regain a hold on his life,
attending school and publicly explaining his ordeal with the
criminal justice system, however, that wasn’t enough
Browder ultimately committed suicide in 2015
United States ○ Mexico ○ Norway
8
Image of Kalief Browder
Photograph by Jack Gross
Kalief Browder 1993-2015
The New Yorker, June 7, 2015

9. Rikers Island-Kalief Browder
“This case is bigger than Michael Brown!” In that
case, in which a police officer shot Brown, an
unarmed teen-ager, in Ferguson, Missouri, Prestia
recalled that there were conflicting stories about
what happened. And the incident took, he said, “one
minute in time.”
“When you go over the three years that he spent [in
jail] and all the horrific details he endured, it’s
unbelievable that this could happen to a teen-ager in
New York City. He didn’t get tortured in some
prison camp in another country. It was right here!”
-Paul Prestia, Lawyer to Kalief Browder
United States ○ Mexico ○ Norway
9
Image of Paul Prestia
Photograph by Jack Gross
Kalief Browder 1993-2015
The New Yorker, June 7, 2015

10. Nordic Countries
In Nordic Countries, prison is about rehabilitation after punishment of sentencing has been declared
Open Prison Systems: Prisons resemble college dorms with amenities similar to what one would see on a college
campus(e.g. Television access, radio, and free commute to and from work under supervision)
Nordic prison cell size 26x26 feet compared to 6x9 feet in American style prisons for a single prisoner
There were only three suicides and five other deaths throughout the Danish prison system in 2013, as compared to
4,446 deaths in U.S. jail and state prison facilities that same year.
Recidivism is also relatively low among released Danish prisoners, hovering around 27 percent, half of the average
recidivism rates reported across various U.S. jurisdictions
Sources: Keramet Reiter, Lori Sexton and Jennifer Sumner, The Washington Post, Denmark Doesn’t treat its prisoners like prisoners and its good for everyone,
2016 https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2016/02/02/denmark-doesnt-treat-its-prisoners-like-prisoners-and-its-good-for-everyone/
Batricevic, Ana, and Ljeposava Ilijic. "IMPRISONMENT IN SWEDEN–NORMATIVE FRAMEWORKS, CHARACTERISTICS AND IMPACT ON
RECIDIVISM." NBP (2013).
United States ○ Mexico ○ Norway/Sweden/DenmarkUnited States ○ Mexico ○ Norway
10

11. Halden
United States ○ Mexico ○ Norway
11
Trond Isaksen / Statsbygg
Prisoners Bedroom at Halden Prison
Business Insider 2014
Are Hoidel, Halden Prison's director, puts it: "Every
inmate in Norwegian prisons are going back to the
society. Do you want people who are angry — or
people who are rehabilitated?"
Christina Sterbenz
Why Norway’s Prison System is so successful
Business Insider 2014
(A) Kitchen and Dining Room (B) Recording Studio (C) Common Kitchen
Halden Prison 2014
All photos courtesy of the architects, landscape architect and Statsbygg
A
B C

12. 2nd Floor
By this point it should be evident the radically different experiences of inmates in
prisons around the world. The 2nd floor will provide more information on the aspects of
prison life.
12

13. Floorplan [2ND Floor]
13
Mexican Women and the
Prison System
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Solitary Confinement
Experience Room
Mental Health
1. Personal Stories
Series (Video 1)
Viewing Room
2. Gallery Space -
Mexican Women and
the Prison System
-- Photographs + short
descriptions
-- Statistics
3. Personal Stories
Series (Video 2)
4. Personal Stories
Series (Video 3)
5. Personal Stories
Series (Video 4) -
Viewing Area
6. Gallery Space -
Mental Health
-- Photographs + short
descriptions
-- Statistics
7. Rikers Island: Kalief
Browder Video

14. Floorplan [2ND Floor]
14

15. Mexican Women and the Prison System
15
Hannah Parry
Baja California state prison in Tijuana, Mexico.
Beauty Contest behind bars as part of rehabilitation program
Daily Mail June 2015
Adriana Zehbrauskas
Victoria Jaramillo, 40, holding her 3-month-old
daughter, Frida, at Santa Martha Acatitla, a women’
s prison in Mexico City.
The New York Times 2007
Since 1990 Mexico City Government
allows children to stay with their mothers
until 6 yrs of age rather than giving the
child away to foster care- New York
Times

16. Mexican Women and the Prison System
12,000 women held in Mexican prisons that are substandard and dangerous according to
the National Human Rights Commission(77 out of countries 102 prisons house women)
In 20 prisons, women were forced into prostitution and many face sexual abuse
Unsentenced inmates are housed with 3-6 months with convicted criminals-Overcrowding
Approximately five per cent of Mexico’s prison population is female. However, only 13
out of 455 prisons (2.8%) are exclusively female, the rest are mixed.
Reference: Womens Prisons Abuse Runs Rampant, Mexico News Daily, http://mexiconewsdaily.com/news/womens-prisons-abuse-runs-rampant/#sthash.
coYG95g5.dpuf
16

17. Personal Stories
Six Voices for Prisons Today
-By documentary filmmaker
Gabriela Bulisova, who
highlights the lives of people
currently involved with the U.
S. criminal justice system
These 6 videos will be
dispersed throughout the 2nd
floor gallery
17

18. Mental Health
18
Erin Patterson
Mental Health Treatment in Prison Population
Treating Mental Health in Prisoners to
Decrease Criminal Activity
UConn
More than half of U.S. prisoners have a mental health problem:
-Depressive disorder (over 20 percent of inmates)
-Manic depression bipolar disorder or mania (12 percent)
-Post-traumatic stress disorder (7 percent)
-Schizophrenia or some other psychotic disorder (5 percent).
According to the BJS, 56 percent of state prisoners, 45 percent
of federal prisoners and 64 percent of all jail inmates have a
mental health problem.
Report by Bureau of Justice Statistic (2006)

19. Mental Health Help
Arizona’s Community Bridges group has a team helping to
better those figures in Phoenix, The organization’s Forensic
Assertive Community Treatment (FACT) team works with the
Maricopa County Sheriff’s office and mentally ill clients
By connecting former and current inmates with basic services
that benefit their lives, FACT addresses the unique needs of
their clients in hopes of reducing recidivism in the region.
19
Chris Huber
Donnie Battles(right)with his primary case manager Brittany
Merchen(left) at Behavior Management Systems. Battles
meets with a case manager at least once a day to discuss his
progress and things happening in his life. Battles suffers from
Schizophrenia
Mental Health Crisis, How Do You Fix A Broken System
Rapid City Journal 2014
Chris Huber
Nurse practitioner Sheryl Jackson(right) talks to an inmate
(left) about his medication. Psychotropics often costing tens
of thousands of dollars each year for jails and prisons.
Mental Health Crisis, How Do You Fix A Broken System
Rapid City Journal 2014

20. Rikers Island-Kalief Browder
20
Video of Kalief Browder being
assaulted by a guard and inmates
during his time in Rikers Island
Penitentiary, NY
Kalief Browder 1993-2015
The New Yorker, June 7, 2015
This will be shown in a corridor
leading from the Mental Health room
to the Solitary Confinement area

21. Solitary Confinement
Inmates subjected to solitary confinement exhibit a variety of negative physiological
and psychological reactions, including hypersensitivity to stimuli; perceptual distortions
and hallucinations; increased anxiety and nervousness; revenge fantasies, rage, and
irrational anger; fears of persecution; lack of impulse control; severe and chronic
depression; appetite loss and weight loss; heart palpitations; withdrawal; blunting of affect
and apathy; talking to oneself; headaches; problems sleeping; confusing thought processes;
nightmares; dizziness; self- mutilation; and lower levels of brain function.
The mental health of patients is a serious matter for officers and wardens to monitor.
So often patients go through mental breakdowns because of solitary confinement and the
process of rehabilitation is halted. These people are then expected to return to function in a
society they are mentally detached from.
21

22. Solitary Confinement
This map will be placed on the floor in
the solitary confinement room with
nothing else aside from a toilet and bed
‘Here’s How Many Solitary
Confinement Cells Fit in Your
Apartment’
Vocativ
http://www.vocativ.com/usa/justice-
usa/heres-how-many-solitary-prison-
cells-fit-in-your-apartment/
22