Experiences of Biophilia and Biophobia in an English Prison

• In Event: PWG - Carceral landscapes: Space, expansion, and consequences

Abstract

Contact with the natural world has been found to have significant positive effects on human beings, regardless of their environmental, cultural and social situations. Indeed, when people are living in deprived environments, the positive impact of contact with nature can be even more pronounced and profound. These effects relate to physical and mental health, pro-sociality and community-mindedness, social contact, and resilience.
This paper presents some of the results of a thesis project exploring the relationships men living in a city-centre Victorian English prison had with the natural world, how they maintained these relationships, and how living in an environment largely devoid of nature could be a challenging and painful experience. These relationships are considered within the theoretical framework of biophilia and biophobia, which suggest that humans have an innate, evolutionary connection to nature and that living without it impacts us significantly. This research project found that the 27 men interviewed had deep and meaningful connections with the natural world and did their best to maintain in the custodial environment. However, when outside relationships with nature could not be mimicked in the closed environment, this could result in the displacement of activities into more problematic behaviours such as violence, drug use, and self-harm.
This project maintains that relationships with the natural world are a vital consideration for custodial design and challenges the notion that the consideration of nature in prison settings is merely ‘window-dressing’.

Author

• Holly Dempsey, University of Bath