This backyard is my serenity place: learning from incarcerated women about the architecture and design of restorative justice

Abstract

Restorative justice programmes are successfully facilitated inside correctional facilities and often serve as an oasis amidst the dehumanising and punitive correctional environment. The contradiction between restorative values and correctional values raises questions about the characteristics of spaces designed with restorative justice in mind. Given the absence of restorative justice–informed correctional environments, this study uses privacy as means through which to understand the design of restorative space. Twenty-two women participated in interviews in which they used basic art supplies to design spaces in which to achieve personal goals related to privacy and that are meaningful for restorative justice. Women’s narratives and designs indicate they desire spaces with natural and house-like features and in which they can experience peacefulness, affirmation, focus and motivation, and success. The results are discussed for their meaning for the design of spaces informed by restorative justice.

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