Prisons come at great cost to society and still result in inmates disassociated from society. Incarceration is however our primary forms of punishment; therefore we need to define the purpose of punishment to be integrated into our goals for prisons. Prison architecture is a complex area of study, the classification proposed in this paper can be an important research tool by taking into consideration a holistic approach to the domain. The physical environment of the users is a large factor, but architecture can only be influential when coupled with policy reform. To achieve this, one must look after both the physical and psychological well-being of the inmates. We can observe four models of prisons: the rehabilitation model, the safety model, the repressive prison model and the hybrid model. Each model is a response at the social and cultural characteristics of the area were the prison is build. Each model is different from the others, by the architectural approach. The main variations between the models are concerning the security systems, the prison facilities and the design. The philosophy behind this concept is the understanding that an occupied prisoner is less violent and is less likely to assault the staff or other inmates.
