PHILOSOPHICAL AND SOCIOLOGICAL PROBLEMS ARE CONTINUOUSLY REFLECTED IN THE DESIGN PROBLEMS ENCOUNTERED BY TODAY'S PRISON ARCHITECT. THE IDEA OF IMPRISONMENT IS SUBJECT TO STRONG CRITICISM IN THE AGE OF DEVELOPING MINORITY RIGHTS, RACIAL EQUALITY, AND INCREASED SOCIAL FREEDOM. FREQUENTLY, REACTIONS TO IMPRISONMENT PER SE MUST BE DEALT WITH BY PRISON ARCHITECTS IN ACCOMPLISHING THEIR TASKS. MODERN ARCHITECTS FEEL ENORMOUS SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITIES IN PROVIDING BUILDINGS WHOSE PURPOSE IS NEITHER TOTALLY ACCEPTED NOR CLEARLY DEFINED. BECAUSE MANY PRISONS WERE BUILT DURING THE 1850 TO 1950 TIME PERIOD, SEVERAL COUNTRIES TODAY HAVE PRISONS WHICH ARE NOT CORRESPONDING TO THE PENAL IDEOLOGY IN EVOLUTION, CANNOT MEET CONTEMPORARY NEEDS, DO NOT PROVIDE THE TREATMENT PRISONERS SHOULD RECEIVE, PRESENT OBSTACLES TO REFORM, AND ARE LOCATED IN AREAS SURROUNDED BY EXPANDING CITIES. PRISONS SHOULD BE EVALUATED AS SOCIAL FACILITIES, JUST AS SCHOOLS AND HOSPITALS ARE REGARDED. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION IN DESIGN AND MANAGEMENT SHOULD BE ENCOURAGED, AS IT IS IN RELATION TO OTHER SOCIAL INSTITUTIONS. RESEARCH HAS SHOWN THAT PRISON DESIGN PROBLEMS EXIST WORLDWIDE; MOST COUNTRIES SHOW A VERY SLOW TRANSITION FROM THE OLD TRADITIONAL NINETEENTH-CENTURY CONCEPTS OF DESIGN TOWARDS THE EXPERIMENTAL SEARCHING FOR IMPROVEMENTS. TWO BASIC DESIGN ATTITUDES CAN BE IDENTIFIED. THE FIRST, THE PROGRESSIVE ATTITUDE, SHOWN IN RICH COUNTRIES, IS REFLECTED BY SMALLER INSITUTIONS WHICH HOUSE LESS THAN 500 INMATES, WITH EMPHASIS ON ACTIVITIES WITHIN THE PRISON, AND USE OF GOOD MATERIALS AND FURNITURE DESIGN. THE TRADITIONAL ATTITUDE IS CHARACTERIZED BY PRISONS WITH OVER 1,000 INMATES, A LIMITED RANGE OF PRISON ACTIVITIES, AND A LACK OF FLEXIBILITY. ADOPTION OF NOTED DESIGN IMPROVEMENTS WOULD CONSTITUTE A GREAT ADVANCE IN PENAL SYSTEMS, BUT SUCH ADOPTION IS NOT ECONOMICALLY POSSIBLE IN MANY COUNTRIES. NEVERTHELESS, ARCHITECTURAL RESEARCH AND EXPERIMENTATION SHOULD CONTINUE. A REFERENCE IS INCLUDED IN THE PAPER. (LWM)