The Carrot or the Stick? An Examination of Rehabilitative Programs and Solitary Confinement in U.S. Penal Institutions

• In Event: Posters II

Abstract

The solitary confinement system is an entrenched system inside the United States penal system. This very restrictive form of incarceration is costing our governments, both state and federal, two to three times as much to operate in comparison to normal incapacitation methods. With the knowledge of the cost of solitary confinement, some have called for the prison system to actively seek out alternatives that have been proven to work through evidence based research. This proposal seeks to examine the role of rehabilitative programs within penal institutions on alleviating the use of solitary confinement. Using information from the 2004 Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research Survey of Inmates in State and Federal Correctional Facilities, we examine if the presence of rehabilitative measures makes an impact on how often solitary confinement is used and it’s effectiveness. Furthermore, we will also assess if minorities or those with mental health problems are disproportionately more likely to be sent to solitary housing while controlling for common penology variables.

Authors

• Timothy C. Brown, University of Arkansas at Little Rock

• Eugene Lamb, University of Arkansas at Little Rock

• Marc Glidden, University of Arkansas at Little Rock

• Kimberly M. Brown, Louisiana State University