The primary objective of the present study is to investigate the environmental design aimed at reducing criminal opportunities among convicts in prison. This research is applied in nature and adopts a mixed-methods approach, sequentially integrating qualitative and then quantitative exploratory methods.
In the quantitative phase, the study’s statistical population consisted of male prisoners aged 20 to 60 years and personnel at Shahrekord Prison. A total of 200 prisoners and 60 personnel were selected through proportional sampling. To assess the validity of the questionnaire, nominal validity was employed, while reliability was measured using Cronbach's alpha. For statistical analysis of the data, exploratory factor analysis was conducted utilizing the maximum likelihood method.
The results revealed five key factors influencing criminal opportunities in the prison environment: (1) the lack and design of cultural-educational and employment-generating spaces, (2) the inadequacy of meeting rooms, health centers, and sports halls, (3) the prisoner's traffic routes between various spaces within the facility, (4) the lack and type of spaces for classifying convicts, and (5) the misalignment between existing spaces and prisoners' needs. Additional contributing factors included: (6) the high level of contact between prisoners convicted of different crimes, (7) non-standard architectural design, and (8) the existence of secret or poorly supervised areas within the prison.
Moreover, the study identified a super structural factor, namely the reduction in the possibility of contact between prisoners with different criminal backgrounds, which can play a significant role in diminishing criminal opportunities within the prison environment.