Prison cell

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Modern solitary confinement
room of the Wuppertal-Ronsdorf JVA opened in 2011
Detention cell in Alcatraz
former detention cell in Frankfurt am Main
former cell wing

A prison cell or prison cell is the accommodation of a prisoner in a jail .

history

In earlier times, prisoners were locked in dungeons , dungeons or cells . Most of the time, there wasn't even a bed in the cells, just a sack with straw, for example. The purpose of imprisonment was punishment in itself. Usually several delinquents were locked up together as needed. Often the only equipment consisted of bedding , the hygienic conditions were catastrophic. Diseases and epidemics were common. The dividing line between corporal punishment and imprisonment was blurred. The quality of the accommodation of the delinquent was often dependent on his personal circumstances: wealthy, even aristocratic delinquents were often better accommodated than the common people, and care was often the responsibility of the delinquent or his relatives themselves. There were no uniform regulations: the structure of detention was entirely at the discretion of the executor.

Modern development

Enlightenment and humanism also affected prisons. The emerging awareness of human rights was carried over to the prison system. Reforms came from England : dungeons and dungeons were replaced by prisons, in which a certain minimum standard of accommodation and care prevailed. The thought of recovery joined the previously predominant criminal thought.

At that time, the prisoners were mainly detained in large group rooms. Later, the problems resulting from the constant communal accommodation were recognized, and the group cells became group dormitories. The detainees were only locked together at night. During the day, they stayed at their workplace, which was outside the group cell. In the further course, in many countries there was a move away from communal accommodation towards solitary confinement rooms, since constant being locked up together only causes problems in practice, while individual cells did not lead to the isolation of prisoners feared by the planners.

Equipment of the cells

As a rule, cells were equipped with a bed, a table and chair, a cupboard and a shelf, as well as a washing facility and a free-standing toilet. It was precisely these sanitary facilities that led to the prisoners themselves calling the cells in their jargon "toilet rooms". This designation is outside of prisons for depressingly small one bedroom apartments in use. Community cells were basically equipped in the same way, only with a corresponding number of chairs and beds. Here, too, the toilet was free-standing in the cell. The user can only protect himself from the eyes of the other with a mobile partition that can be pushed forward.

Todays situation

The structure of the penal system is not regulated uniformly. It ranges from conditions that often appear to be medieval to an implementation that corresponds to the modern image of man in large parts of Europe. In Germany itself, the judiciary, and thus the prison system, is the responsibility of the federal states , and even within a federal state the equipment and structure of the prison system are inconsistent. Older prisons, for example, are often equipped according to their age and thus the standards of the time. In addition, distinctions are made based on the classification of their inmates: prisons for offenders with a lower criminal risk differ from those for those with a high criminal risk. Even within a prison there can be significant differences in the equipment. The reasons for this lie in the treatment or socio-pedagogical design of the prison (example of living group prison).

According to Section 19 (1) of the StVollzG , the prison cell, which is legally designated as a prison cell, may be adequately furnished with one's own belongings. Prisoners are also allowed to have private things in their cells, such as televisions ( Section 69 (2) StVollzG), books , clothing ( Section 70 (1) StVollzG), food and beverages ( Section 22 (1) StVollzG). In addition, the cells can often be decorated to a certain extent, for example with pictures of relatives or posters .

In principle there is a right to individual accommodation. When prisons are being built or converted, all cells are often furnished with so-called wet cells , i.e. a separate sanitary area. In Germany, however, the right to individual accommodation is often undermined. For example, a precautionary measure for sick or suicide-prone prisoners provides for “collective accommodation with particularly reliable prisoners”. Furthermore, prisoners are housed together if this is required as a so-called special security measure. In particular for reasons of overcrowding, prisoners are still often housed together, often in cells originally built as single cells and later equipped with a floor bed as a two-man cell with a floor area of ​​eight to ten square meters.

However, jurisprudence regards involuntary communal accommodation - especially if the toilet is inadequately separated off in the detention room - as a violation of human dignity and has even awarded prisoners compensation for pain and suffering in individual cases.

Prisoners in modern penal systems spend most of the day outside their cell: Many prisoners have a job, whereby in Germany there is an obligation to work according to Section 41 (1) StVollzG, in the evening hours there are often leisure, care or treatment measures, so that even in a closed prison, some prisoners only go to the cell to sleep.

At the end of 2006, the collective accommodation of prisoners hit the headlines, as juvenile prisoners brutally murdered a fellow prisoner in a prison prison in Siegburg .

Different cells

In Germany, normal cells are simple living rooms / bedrooms with a toilet and wash basin, the windows are barred, and the massive door may have a peephole and / or an inspection hatch. In addition to the normal cells, there are a number of special cells:

  • Observation cell: Prisoners who are ordered to be observed as a special security measure are accommodated in a so-called observation cell if possible. This detention room enables better observation through structural measures, for example through larger viewing windows in the door, special room layout, etc. U. immovable furniture, light that can be switched from outside, etc.
  • Steel cell: the floor, ceiling and walls are reinforced with steel . Prisoners who are particularly at risk of escaping are housed in steel cells . However, the scope and equipment correspond to those of normal cells. These cells have a flap in the door, which is used to put transport restraints on the prisoner within his cell. As soon as the door is unlocked, the prisoner has to step out to the side.
  • Detention cell : Usually very sparsely equipped cell in which prisoners spend the time of their disciplinary detention . These cells are often smaller than normal cells. In addition, permission to own personal belongings (including tobacco for smoking) is regularly revoked for the duration of the arrest. A book is often the only equipment besides the furniture.
  • Plain cell : A cell with specially secured furnishings. This is where prisoners are housed who are z. B. have destroyed the furniture in their cell.
  • BGH ( B articularly g esicherter H aftraum, or "B-cell"): This is usually only with a mattress equipped Haftraum prisoners are housed, the violence to exercise against themselves or others, or acutely suicidal are. Often the walls and the floor are lined with soft, pillow-like pieces to prevent suicide. In the BgH there are also devices that can be used to restrain the prisoner . In addition, there are mostly two cameras in these cells in order to ensure constant observation and to avoid a “ blind spot ”. In contrast to normal cells, access can be via two different doors in order to ensure the security of the staff. The corners of the room are often rounded and the toilet is usually embedded in the floor. There are no furnishings whatsoever in this detention room , so that the prisoner has no way of endangering himself or employees with damaged or improperly used furnishings. Most of the time prisoners are kept in underwear or completely without clothing , as prisoners have repeatedly strangled themselves with torn clothing in the past . In addition, prisoners who are housed here are on a higher alert. In addition to the reasons mentioned above, it may also be necessary for reasons of security and order to accommodate a prisoner in the BgH. While a prisoner is housed in the BgH, he is constantly monitored. In addition, a doctor and the psychological service will visit and assess the prisoner there regularly. The head of the authority is also always immediately informed of the placement of a prisoner in the BgH. The necessity of continuing to stay in the BgH is continuously checked. Placement in the BgH is a special security measure and in no way a disciplinary or punitive measure . Nevertheless, it should be kept as short as possible, as the BgH is an extremely degrading and psychologically stressful form of accommodation.

Web links

Commons : Prison Cells  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. Christoph Stein, Peter Itzel, Karin Schwall: Practical handbook of official and state liability law . 2005, p. 353 ( limited preview in Google Book Search [accessed December 9, 2015]).