Three Generations of Evaluation and Design of Correctional Facilities

Abstract

This article explores the use of information from behaviorally based evaluations in aiding the evolution of a design prototype over several generations. The input from successive evaluations of facilities continually improved the fit between the physical setting and the organizational and behavioral needs of various user groups. The focus of this report is to trace in detail the way in which the experiences in an innovatively designed correctional facility, as documented in a postoccupancy evaluation, influenced the design of another facility. The second facility was itself evaluated, and the results led to further changes in the generic prototype. In general, the second evaluation tended to validate many of the recommendations of first evaluation, extending understanding of design- behavior relationships in that setting. Implications for the process of data-based design, and for the potential uses of evaluation research across setting types are discussed.