In Japan, a growing number of elderly women are committing petty crimes to enter prison, not out of criminal intent but as a response to deep-seated societal issues. This phenomenon reflects the crisis of loneliness, including the rise of kodokushi (lonely death) and the breakdown of familial and social support. Many of these women, abandoned by their families, experience further trauma within the prison system and face high rates of recidivism due to a lack of reintegration support.
This project proposes a post-carceral transition center that serves as both a community and a support system, helping elderly women rebuild their lives upon release. By fostering social connections, economic opportunities, and mental health support, the center aims to break the cycle of imprisonment and provide dignity, security, and belonging to these vulnerable individuals, ensuring they do not have to turn to crime for survival.
What constitutes a community in a transition site? This would include around 30 elderly women who exited prison and on-board in groups of 5, with the center having both on-board and off-board staff of around 10 people, and family visiting, where the elderly women have arrival accountability groups from prison release (point to board). The 50 people in the site plus people outside the center who interact with the elderly women (for example market-goers) create a sense of community. The women can still feel autonomy in their personal time by themselves, but the community allows transparency (up) of connectedness, as opposed to their experience of prison cells where one feels merely to be an observer of one another.
