The article analyses the context and the conditions of the contemporary refitting of visiting rooms. A clandestine sexuality imposed itself punctually thanks to the reconquest of a private space in collective rooms. This article stresses the link between a new conception of human rights and the difficulty to control the inmate population because of the burden of the long-term sentences. It shows that the amelioration of the life inside is not the main purpose of the penal administration which tries to conform itself to the evolution of the society by perfecting its instruments of control.