When we talk about correctional institutions, we forget that imprisoned people are still human beings. Yes, they are there for a reason, they committed a crime, and some are serious. Yet, even society and the government must rehabilitate them and reintegrate them into society as functional beings. Regardless, the fact that they have committed a criminal act does not mean that the correctional institution’s conditions must be inhumane.
Traditionally, correctional facility furniture is large, steel, floor-mounted, cold, and uncomfortable. We cannot imagine what it feels like to be locked up in a place like this.
However, many clinical studies and treaties speak to the need for humane conditions of confinement. On the other hand, psychology determines the influence that the physical environment in which a person is found directly affects their mood and behavior. So it is not uncommon that in the new trends in the design of spaces opt for open areas with light colors to instill an aura of tranquility and furniture for correctional facilities, we can observe that the table has been changing.
There are highly specialized companies that, taking this into account, have changed the game in terms of the furniture that can be found in correctional institutions. Adapting them to new design trends and seeking to make them more friendly to the eye, collaborating to create an environment more conducive to prisoners’ rehabilitation.
Among this furniture is the correctional dining tables that are characterized by the following.
- They are designed to make users and visitors feel comfortable and safe.
- They are designed to make users and visitors feel comfortable and safe. They are designed to avoid ties, are waterproof, easy to clean, and have a high resistance to fire.
They are manufactured in one piece; this allows that they cannot be dismantled or broken into smaller amounts that can be used as a weapon by the inmates in case of a fight inside the institution.
The fact that they are built in one piece means that there are no spaces where inmates, visitors, or any other person can hide contraband objects in them.
These companies make the correctional dining tables particularly heavy and the smaller chairs and tables so that inmates cannot lift and throw them, using them as projectiles or battering rams.
However, this furniture comes with specific adaptations to be fixed to the floor and cannot be used to obstruct the passage or visibility of correctional facility personnel.
In addition to the characteristics mentioned above, it should be considered that this furniture is of avant-garde design, colorful and friendly. So that the atmosphere in which they are installed becomes less cold and rigid, allowing inmates to develop a sense of belonging that facilitates the dynamics of rehabilitation and reintegration.
These new companies have understood that the comfort and safety of inmates and correctional facilities staff are not in dispute but that they can live together in the same space as long as the right decisions are made, which can be as simple as installing the right correctional facility dining table.
