According to psychologist Daniela Späth, the color pink has a calming effect on stress, thereby reducing aggressive behaviors in individuals.
In her study “The Psychological and Physiological Effects of Pink on Human Behavior,” psychologist Späth noted that pink is often used in schools, mental health facilities, recovery rooms in hospitals, ambulances, temporary shelters after natural disasters, and even in certain prison cells.
A prison painted pink in Switzerland. (Photo: Fastcompany).
At a prison in Switzerland, the four walls of the inmate cells are painted pink, and violent offenders are placed in these special cells. According to the guards, after four years of residing there, the violent behavior of the inmates significantly decreased.
In fact, Switzerland has implemented this practice in many of its prisons since 2005.
Following this, Germany also painted several prisons in Dortmund, Hagen, Kleve, and Attendorn in pink. The United States, Poland, Austria, and the United Kingdom have adopted similar approaches.
However, many people disagree with this method.
Peter Zimmermann, a former inmate and now the head of a support group for prisoners in Germany, believes that painting cells pink causes inmates to feel fatigued and has the opposite effect.
“In two days, you will feel like you’re going crazy. There will be no calming effect at all. I think it’s an off-putting color. It can even serve as an additional punishment for many inmates,” Zimmermann stated.
Späth herself does not deny this, as the color pink can sometimes evoke associations with femininity, and inmates may feel offended being confined in such rooms.
Gradually, the “pink craze” has begun to fade. Many prisons in Germany that did not see effective results after being “pinkified” have had to repaint the cells in brighter or green colors.
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