“Le nuove” or “new prison,” was built in the late 1800s, and has undergone multiple renovations as the ideas around imprisonment changed.
Originally inspired by American radial prisons, le nuove has two central guard towers with branching wings forming a plus shape. This setup allowed for fewer guards, as cells in adjoining wings could be monitored from a single point.
An early idea in correctional institutions was to isolate prisoners to reduce their ability to share information and skills related to crime. It was thought that the practice of solitary confinement would force inmates to reflect on the choices that led them there, but instead resulted in many inmates taking their own lives, due to social being cut off socially.
Later revisions would eventually increase recreational spaces from a narrow pie sections to rectangular courtyards and allow some interaction with other prisoners.
Later, wardens began to try allowing more interaction from prisoners. Inmates were allowed to help with church masses and eventually le Nuove became the only prison to have a hospital and workshop. These additions focused more on the humanity of inmates as people rather than simply objects to detain. The workshop was used to teach skills that could be used to start a new life after a prisoner’s release. (When the prison was taken over by Nazis during World War II, the hospital was used by a nun to save many people who could be deemed “sick” to escape various situations).
The last renovations happened in the 1970s when floors added to separate levels in the men’s wings, rooms were enlarged, and dog kennels replaced with motion sensors to detect escapees. More space for prisoners, among the other changes returned to offering a push towards more humane treatment of inmates, even if only slightly.
Through its history, flaws, and revisions, le Nuove offers insight into the development of prisons within the past two centuries as well as the social and societal implications of treatment in prisons.
I do find the addition of the floors between the "layers" of cells along with the other renovations at the time quite interesting. It would appear, as with many historical renovations, that the addition of "prevailing technologies", such as sensor-based alarming in the zone between the inner and outer walls performed worse than the older technology, in this case being the advanced security system of angry dogs (at least according to my memory of what the guide said.)
ReplyDeleteI found that the discription you included of the prison building structure was a good point to mention as many at the time believed it helped the prison be much more efficient for the guards monitoring the prison. It could be assumed that the efficiency of the prison from this prospective also helped them with the philosophy you mentioned about the people in change wanting to reduce the social contacts between prisoners.
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