The Social Mile - How (Psychosocial) ICT can Help to Promote Resocialization and to Overcome Prison

Abstract

There is currently uncertainty in the research community as to how ICT can and should be designed in such a way that it can be convincingly integrated into the everyday lives of prison inmates. In this paper, we discuss a design fiction that closes this research gap. The descriptions and results of the study are purely fictitious. Excluded is the State of the Art as well as the description of the legal situation of prisons in Germany. The analysis of the fictional study data designed here thus refers to the real world in order to derive ethical guidelines and draw practical conclusions. It is our intention to use these results as a possible basis for further research. The paper presents results of an explorative study dealing with the design, development and evaluation of an AI-based Smart Mirror System, Prison AI 2.0, in a German prison. Prison AI 2.0 was developed for daily use and voluntarily tested by eight prisoners over a period of 12 months to gain insight into their individual and social impact, with an emphasis on its ability to actively support rehabilitation. Based on qualitative data, our findings suggest that intelligent AI-based devices can actually help promote such an outcome. Our results also confirm the valuable impact of (Psychosocial) ICT on the psychological, social and individual aspects of prison life, and in particular how prisoners used the Smart Mirror system to improve and maintain their cognitive, mental and physical state and to restore social interactions with the outside world. With the presentation of these results we want to initiate discussions about the use of ICT by prisoners in closed prisons in order to identify opportunities and risks.

Smart prison technology and challenges: a systematic literature reviews

“…High cost of smart technology [10], [20] Aging outdated facilities and non-compatibility of existing buildings with smart technologies [20] Lack of regulatory policy and local standards for smart technology [20], [28] Implementation and integration of the prison system into smart technology [6], [7], [20], [21], [23]- [26], [39], [40], [42], [43]…”

“…Continuous addition of prisoners [20] Maintain the conduciveness of the prison [23]- [28], [40], [42], [44] Automated administration process [10] Deficiency of accredited suppliers [20] Lack of competent staff for maintenance [20] Delay in budget approval [27]…”

Design considerations for a digital service to support prison leavers

“…Examples of HCI to design digital support for people leaving prison are limited [22,70]. Teng et al give an indication of why: in their design of a virtual reality-based reintegration initiative, they highlighted that prison presented cultural, institutional, and technological challenges [67].…”

Unaccompanied Migrant Youth and Mental Health Technologies: A Social-Ecological Approach to Understanding and Designing

“…Other populations including formerly incarcerated individuals [62] and homeless young people [92] and mothers [53] face similar challenges related to accommodation and stress introduced by social media and social dynamics that may limit their ability to engage with mental health apps. In addition, usage of technological systems are bounded by larger contexts such as the local homeless care guidance [53] and re-socialization systems [29].…”