THE ECOSYSTEM OF A DETENTION HOUSE
Every individual deserves to live in a society that respects their dignity, ensures their safety, and provides a sustainable way of living for all. Justice reform is a comprehensive and systemic approach that seeks to reshape the foundations of how society addresses crime, systemic inequalities and social well-being. It involves strengthening our social fabric by fostering fairness, equity, and accountability. Rather than focusing solely on reforms within the criminal justice system, it involves a broader transformation that tackles the root causes of social injustice such as socioeconomic disparities, unequal access to quality education, health care, and housing. With detention houses, we aim to address these underlying structures and practices, by looking beyond their observable features (like their scale or location) and considering all dimensions of their ecosystem.
Every individual deserves to live in a society that respects their dignity, ensures their safety, and provides a sustainable way of living for all. Justice reform is a comprehensive and systemic approach that seeks to reshape the foundations of how society addresses crime, systemic inequalities and social well-being. It involves strengthening our social fabric by fostering fairness, equity, and accountability. Rather than focusing solely on reforms within the criminal justice system, it involves a broader transformation that tackles the root causes of social injustice such as socioeconomic disparities, unequal access to quality education, health care, and housing. With detention houses, we aim to address these underlying structures and practices, by looking beyond their observable features (like their scale or location) and considering all dimensions of their ecosystem.
INSPIRE is a project funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union. It stands for Incarceration & Social Purpose in Restorative Cities.
INSPIRE is a collective learning process about detention houses and the dynamic interaction with their local urban, economic and social context. What are good examples of restorative justice in relation to detention houses? How can a detention house be implemented? How can a detention house finance itself through a social enterprise? And how do we empower and amplify the voice of lived experience throughout the implementation process?
Over the past two years (2022-2024), this project has been carried out in collaboration with five organizations: RESCALED (based in Belgium), Restorative Justice Netherlands (based in the Netherlands), RESHAPE (based in Portugal), WayBack (based in Norway), and Rubikon Centre (based in the Czech Republic). This website presents everything learned and collected during the project.
Core topics
A detention house within a restorative city
The Restorative City concept responds to current social challenges posed by rapid urbanisation, environmental degradation, and the need for more sustainable and livable urban spaces. It aligns with growing awareness of the interconnectedness between the built environment, (social and criminal) justice and the well-being of individuals and communities. These communities reside in resilient urban environments that benefit both people, the planet and prosperity. A restorative city involves a holistic and integrated or even circular approach to justice, consisting of doing justice and undoing injustice, often related to environmental, social, societal, cultural, and economic factors.
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The ecosystem of a detention house
Detention houses are characterized by three principles: small-scale, differentiation and community-integration. Unlocking the keys to community integration in the implementation of a detention house is not just about laying bricks and building walls in a neighbourhood – it is about coherence of communication, collaboration and cohesion with stakeholders and local residents. Creating community integration when implementing a detention house can be a challenge. What is the best strategy? Is there one possible strategy that applies to different countries, each with its own political landscape and cultural characteristics?
And what about the ecosystem of a detention house? How do incarcerated people, staff members, visitors and local service providers interact, together shaping the social environment in and around the detention house?
Social enterprise in a dentention house
What advantages can a social enterprise bring to the management and development of a detention house? This is one of the questions we ask ourselves as members of the RESCALED network – the European Movement for Detention Houses – to implement or improve, in different countries, alternative detention facilities to prisons.The focus on social entrepreneurship emerges as an effective response in the search for a circular approach between the desire to build paths of personal development, the promotion of social inclusion and sustainable projects for people who have to serve a sentence according to a perspective that does not isolate them but capacitates them (also) in the world of work. And, since this perspective tends towards real social reintegration, the community-integration pillar becomes crucially important. But what are social enterprises in the first place?
A detention house within a restorative city
The Restorative City concept responds to current social challenges posed by rapid urbanisation, environmental degradation, and the need for more sustainable and livable urban spaces. It aligns with growing awareness of the interconnectedness between the built environment, (social and criminal) justice and the well-being of individuals and communities. These communities reside in resilient urban environments that benefit both people, the planet and prosperity. A restorative city involves a holistic and integrated or even circular approach to justice, consisting of doing justice and undoing injustice, often related to environmental, social, societal, cultural, and economic factors.
.
The ecosystem of a detention house
Detention houses are characterized by three principles: small-scale, differentiation and community-integration. Unlocking the keys to community integration in the implementation of a detention house is not just about laying bricks and building walls in a neighbourhood – it is about coherence of communication, collaboration and cohesion with stakeholders and local residents. Creating community integration when implementing a detention house can be a challenge. What is the best strategy? Is there one possible strategy that applies to different countries, each with its own political landscape and cultural characteristics?
And what about the ecosystem of a detention house? How do incarcerated people, staff members, visitors and local service providers interact, together shaping the social environment in and around the detention house?
Social enterprise in a dentention house
What advantages can a social enterprise bring to the management and development of a detention house? This is one of the questions we ask ourselves as members of the RESCALED network – the European Movement for Detention Houses – to implement or improve, in different countries, alternative detention facilities to prisons.The focus on social entrepreneurship emerges as an effective response in the search for a circular approach between the desire to build paths of personal development, the promotion of social inclusion and sustainable projects for people who have to serve a sentence according to a perspective that does not isolate them but capacitates them (also) in the world of work. And, since this perspective tends towards real social reintegration, the community-integration pillar becomes crucially important. But what are social enterprises in the first place?
INSPIRATIONAL PRACTICES
Small-scale, differentiated, and community-integrated facilities can be found in many European countries. There is not one, but a thousand detention houses.
Various facilities that were visited during the INSPIRE project have also been featured on the Inspirational Practices website. These inspirational practices have been compiled as examples to illustrate innovative and effective ideas that may be useful to consider when implementing a new detention house. This database is managed by RESCALED.
INSPIRATIONAL PRACTICES
Small-scale, differentiated, and community-integrated facilities can be found in many European countries. There is not one, but a thousand detention houses.
Various facilities that were visited during the INSPIRE project have also been featured on the Inspirational Practices website. These inspirational practices have been compiled as examples to illustrate innovative and effective ideas that may be useful to consider when implementing a new detention house. This database is managed by RESCALED.
