Altering Disciplinary Segregation: Processes and Outcomes in a Restrictive Status Housing Program

• In Event: Solitary Confinement: Complexities, Effects, and Recommendations

Abstract

Administrative segregation is at the forefront of national discussions on crime and punishment. Scholars and human rights activists have argued that its use should be limited due to harmful effects on the physical and psychological health of inmates. Stacked against this is the need for correctional administrators to respond to institutional violence. The current project explores the effectiveness of a restrictive status housing program designed for inmates who commit violent assaults within the Arizona Department of Corrections. The program moves beyond exclusively punitive approaches to segregation by using contingency management through cognitive behavioral training. This study advances the literature and informs correctional policy by: 1) examining the effects of program participation on future behavioral and mental health outcomes of 300 program participants, graduates, and terminations, and 2) exploring mechanisms through which the program operates using interviews with current and former program participants and staff. The findings have implications for state and federal correctional agencies that are searching for ways to eliminate, reduce, or modify their administrative segregation practices.

Author

• Travis J. Meyers, Arizona State University