30 cells have been turned pink with both positive and negative effects

Sep 13, 2013 15:10 GMT  ·  By

Inmates at jailhouses all over Switzerland feel humiliated over the use of pink in the decoration of their cells.

The pink prison cells can be found at 30 detention centers in the country. The choice of color for the wall decoration comes after an analysis of how colors affect aggressive behavior.

The project is called “Cool Down Pink” and it is an experiment that uses colors and human emotions.

Thirty cells have been painted pink, in a traditionally feminine color, according to the Telegraph. Experts say that there are positive effects to color therapy.

“Anger levels can reduce in as little as 15 minutes, though we usually confine a convict to a pink cell for two hours,” psychologist Daniela Spath describes the pink prison therapy for the Mirror.

Police in the town of Bienne also used the tint to calm down detainees. They have four rooms painted in the therapeutic color, and they use them to lock up drunk suspects.

“It really seems to work. They quieten down and go to sleep much more quickly in a pink room,” a Bienne police spokesman says.

Where prisons are concerned, inmates don't seem to take to the idea. They feel emasculated and lose credibility among other prisoners when they are stuck in the pink rooms.

“Many inmates are not happy with this treatment. They say it is humiliating to be confined to a room painted like a little girl's bedroom,” comments Peter Zimmerman, who is working towards reforms in the Swiss prison system.

In Iowa, pink is used in the Kinnick Stadium visitors' locker area. Coach Hayden Fry made the choice himself to have his opponents become more passive and easy to beat.

A Texas prison used the strategy in 2006, having inmates wear pink jumpsuits to stop them from going back to jail.