Mental Health And Prison Architecture: A Global Call For Therapeutic Environments As A Fundamental Right
- IJLLR Journal
- 2 hours ago
- 2 min read
Anjali Khapre, LLM, West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences, Kolkata
ABSTRACT
The design and construction of prisons do not just serve as a background but rather as one of the factors that determine the mental health of inmates. The spaces that are not well designed can lead to the proliferation of psychiatric disorders, or even the poor spatial conditions being the cause of the already existing psychiatric disorders. In India, as per Article 21, every person has the right to live and be treated humanely, which has been further interpreted to include proper living conditions having adequate facilities for prisoners. Yet, the law has barely focused on providing sanitation, ensuring health, and reducing the inmate population to the approved limit. The architectural aspect of mental health still remains as one of the least discussed topics in the constitutional debate. On a global scale, international human rights policies, such as the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (also referred to as the Nelson Mandela Rules), not only conceptualise but also pinpoint the need for such settings capable of addressing the psychological aspect of wellbeing. The use of architectural changes aimed at eliminating compromising conditions and incorporating natural elements, such as light and open spaces, has already been implemented in countries like Norway and the Netherlands. The aim of these changes is to reduce recidivism and enhance rehabilitation. Besides, these cases indicate a worldwide shift toward the adoption of “therapeutic environments”—a term that refers to such a place whose sole purpose is to promote mental health and human dignity. Based on a comparative approach, this study demonstrates the link between the Indian constitutional context and global norms, representing the case of India as part of the world debate on prison reform and highlighting the commonality of mental health problems in prisons. This paper not only discusses the prison infrastructure in relation to human rights but also advocates for an overhaul of the entire correctional policy, shifting from mere tolerance of imprisonment to creating a rehabilitative and respectful environment for prisoners.
