The boom of construction that follow the end of the war extended out to all types of public projects including prisons. In the 1950s, there were about 186,000 in state prison, and 23,000 people in federal prison. Most prisons before 1950 were privately owned. The bureaucratic model of administration soon became the standard. Several other changes make the prisons in the years following 1950 unique.

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One reason was a transition into a direct supervision model that affected the overall shape of the prison. Direct supervision is the idea that Correctional officers have the ability to be in constant or direct contact with inmates. This was made possible partly by training, partly by philosophy and partly by design.  Direct supervision Prisons actively manage inmate behavior to produce correctional facilities that are secure for inmates, staff, and visitors.

 

Another breakthrough that changed the designs of prisons is that Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners Adopted by the First United Nations Congress on the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders, held at Geneva in 1955. This document put in place a system of standards that were no where else dictated. Some seem obvious but however were lacking such as “Drinking water shall be available to every prisoner whenever he needs it.” and “In all places where prisoners are required to live or work, ( a ) The windows shall be large enough to enable the prisoners to read or work by natural light, and shall be so constructed that they can allow the entrance of fresh air whether or not there is artificial ventilation”. Most importantly it outlined that “the following rules shall be applied impartially. There shall be no discrimination on grounds of race, color, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status”. The document went on to give dimensional accounts of necessary spaces. Each of these had an impact on prisons built after 1950.

 

The Video shows four plan types of prison that were used to fulfill these developments.