Architectures of Community Corrections: Public Secret or Secret from the Public?

• In Event: Hidden in Plain Sight: Criminological Apparatuses as Public Secrets

Abstract

Several studies find the architecture of correctional systems (Beijersbergen, et al., 2016, Jewkes and Johnston, 2007; Phillips, 2014; Shah, 2015; Wener, 2012) impacts those under supervision and those employed by the system. Yet, few scholars study the impact of such architecture on the general public. The proposed project seeks to address this gap. This paper analyzes how the structures of probation and parole (i.e., local offices) often remain hidden or secret. Using photographs of these offices in California and Michigan, I discuss how the architectural features and landscapes in which these offices are located aid in rendering aspects of community corrections hidden. I also examine the ways in which these landscapes limit access to the general community. In doing this analysis, I aim to understand how, on the one hand, community corrections offices are public buildings and spaces but, on the other hand, are designed in such a way as to allow the public to be around these spaces without realizing it. It thus discerns how the architectures of community create barriers between those under community supervision and the community at large, keeping community corrections secret from the public.

Author

• Rita Shah, Eastern Michigan University