Reforming Solitary: Perceptions of Organizational Implementation & Change from Both Sides of the Bars

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

Abstract

Solitary confinement is one of the most used and poorly understood punishment sanctions U.S. prisons employ. For the limited knowledge about the effects of solitary confinement on inmates, even less work considers how working in solitary may affect staff and how staff respond and make decisions about inmates in this environment. These questions are particularly relevant in today’s prisons as agencies grapple with improving practice without robust research to guide action. Recently, the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections (PA-DOC) designed and implemented a series of changes within solitary confinement particularly for the mentally ill and they are currently expanding it. This in-depth, ethnographic study within four adult prisons examines narrative accounts and behavioral processes involved with decision making within solitary confinement environments undergoing intense policy/practice change. The project focuses extensively on three key perceptions/decision making mechanisms of inmates and correctional staff within solitary units: punishment philosophies/ideologies; perceptions/understandings of risk, mental/physical health and reform on routine/experience and current institutional structure and culture. Findings carry implications for correctional administrators and staff regarding funding, structuring, and delivering sanctions and services. Unpacking the organizational environment opens a critical “black box” in correctional knowledge that considers how unmeasured contextual factors interfere with policy/practice use and outcomes.

Authors

• Shannon Magnuson, George Mason University

• Danielle Rudes, George Mason University