'Shit Disney' or 'storage containers'? Prison architecture and aesthetics through the eyes of local residents

Slee, Eleanor (2021). 'Shit Disney' or 'storage containers'? Prison architecture and aesthetics through the eyes of local residents. University of Birmingham. Ph.D.

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Abstract

This thesis examines the relationship between prisons, their aesthetics and those that live around them. It meets a gap in carceral geography research, where there is a need for greater understanding of how prison affects those without a direct connection to the institution (Moran, 2015). The study takes advantage of interdisciplinary emphasis that begins in carceral geography and spans other aspects of human geography, as well as criminology, sociology, planning and politics. To ascertain whether community relationships differ depending on the age, siting and aesthetic of prison, data is gathered using diverse, qualitiative methodologies, from the surrounding communities of two markedly different prisons: Victorian city-centre prison HMP Manchester and industrial-estate based newbuild, HMP Berwyn.

The resulting thesis yields rich data on the ways in which local residents engage, and have historically engaged, with prison architecture, eliciting responses around seeing and being seen, historic and contemporary NIMBYism, YIMBYism, and fear.

Type of Work:

Thesis (Doctorates > Ph.D.)

Award Type:

Doctorates > Ph.D.

Supervisor(s):