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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
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Alex South

What a window cage taught me about prisons – and how good design can help both staff and inmates

Prison Alex South Drone United Kingdom
Prisoners return to their wings at Wandsworth prison, south-west London.
Prisoners return to their wings at Wandsworth prison, south-west London. Photograph: Andrew Aitchison/Corbis/Getty Images

I met Jake in prison. He was a lifer and I was an officer. By the time I began working with him, he’d already served 15 years. Unsurprisingly, his view of prison was different to mine. He saw things I didn’t.

“What do you think it looks like?” Jake asked me.

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