Administrative Segregation From Within

Abstract

The growth of the inmate population nationwide has given rise to supermax prisons over the past two decades. Among the controversial issues that supermax prisons face are concerns about the types of individuals placed in solitary confinement and the arbitrary nature of those placements. This study profiled inmates in administrative segregation, as supermax confinement is called in Colorado, and the process and reasons for their placement. Evidence of institutional misbehavior, more serious criminal histories, and preexisting mental health needs were found among segregated inmates.

The Association of Administrative Segregation Placement and Other Risk Factors with the Self-Injury-Free Time of Male Prisoners

“…In correctional terminology, ADSEG is often referred to as ''security housing unit,'' ''control unit,'' or ''intensive management unit;'' terms which typify the most restrictive housing setting a prisoner can be placed in. Such settings may either be entire facilities or units (or blocks) at variously defined maximum security or supermax facilities (Arrigo & Bullock, 2008;Boin, 2001;Cloyes, 2007;Naday, Freilich, & Mellow, 2008;O'Keefe, 2008;Pizarro & Narag, 2008). That is, certain prisons or units referred to as maximum security may in actual practice be conducted as supermax facilities.…”

“…Greater risk of prisoner maladjustment and SIB in ADSEG is generally assumed (Bonta & Gendreau, 1990;Correctional Association of New York, 2004;Craig, 2003;Haney, 1993;Haney & Lynch, 1997;Johnson, 1976;532 E. Lanes O'Keefe, 2008;Rhodes, 2005;Salive, Smith, & Brewer, 1989;Sykes, 1958). Consider, however, the findings that (a) a majority of all successful prisoner suicides occur in segregation housing (Mumola, 2005;White, Schimmel, & Frickey, 2002), (b) mentally ill prisoners find themselves housed for longer periods of time in ADSEG than nonmentally ill prisoners (Correctional Association of New York, 2004;Stone, 2003), and (c) many prisoners in ADSEG are relatively younger, less educated, more prone to substance abuse, have more extensive offense histories, and are more impulsive and hostile, easily frustrated, and experience higher rates of housing problems within prison than nonsegregated prisoners (Haney, 1993;Lovell, Cloyes, Allen, & Rhodes, 2000;Motiuk & Blanchette, 1997;O'Keefe, 2008;Sykes, 1958;Toch & Kupers, 2007;Zinger & Wichmann, 1999).…”

“…Consider, however, the findings that (a) a majority of all successful prisoner suicides occur in segregation housing (Mumola, 2005;White, Schimmel, & Frickey, 2002), (b) mentally ill prisoners find themselves housed for longer periods of time in ADSEG than nonmentally ill prisoners (Correctional Association of New York, 2004;Stone, 2003), and (c) many prisoners in ADSEG are relatively younger, less educated, more prone to substance abuse, have more extensive offense histories, and are more impulsive and hostile, easily frustrated, and experience higher rates of housing problems within prison than nonsegregated prisoners (Haney, 1993;Lovell, Cloyes, Allen, & Rhodes, 2000;Motiuk & Blanchette, 1997;O'Keefe, 2008;Sykes, 1958;Toch & Kupers, 2007;Zinger & Wichmann, 1999). These factors would seem to indicate, if anything, that there is a number of prisoners who may be more likely to engage in the kinds of behaviors that in turn raise the likelihood of their staying in ADSEG for the long term (Toch & Kupers, 2007).…”

Supermax housing: Placement, duration, and time to reentry

“…With these observations in mind, and heeding the calls of recent supermax research and reviews (e.g., Cloyes et al, 2006;Kurki & Morris, 2001;Mears, 2008;O'Keefe, 2008;Pizarro & Narag, 2008;Ward & Werlich, 2003), the goal of this exploratory study was to contribute to scholarship on how supermax housing is used. To this end, it provides what the authors believed to be the first study both to quantify several critical dimensions of the supermax experience, including the frequency of placement into supermax confinement, the duration of such confinement, and the timing of supermax incarceration prior to reentry, and to examine factors, including demographic characteristics, prior record, and measures of in-prison behavior, that may contribute to placement in supermax housing.…”

“…A prominent criticism of supermax incarceration is that placement decisions are arbitrary (Mears & Watson, 2006;Riveland, 1999). Several studies described some inmates already in supermax housing (e.g., Cloyes et al, 2006;Lovell, Cloyes, Allen, & Rhodes, 2000;Lovell et al, 2007;O'Keefe, 2008) and found that they appeared to have histories of infractions and violent behavior that are greater than those of general population inmates. They left open, however, the question of whether the characteristics of the inmates, different types of infractions, as well as behavioral histories, are linked to administrator's decisions to place inmates in such housing, and they did not adjust for differences in the lengths of supermax inmates' and general populations inmates' prison terms, respectively.…”