Officers’ Views of Restrictive Housing

• In Event: Examining the Use, Impacts, and Perceptions of Restrictive Housing

Abstract

The bulk of research on restrictive housing, which entails solitary confinement for extended periods of time, has focused on the effects of this experience on inmates. Little, however, is known about how officers view this type of housing. How, for example, do they view its effects on inmates? How does it help or hinder achieving correctional system goals? And, not least, what effects does working in restrictive housing have on officers? Drawing on focus group data from a National Institute of Justice-funded study of restrictive housing in Florida, we examine how officers view the effects of this housing on inmates and on themselves.

Authors

• Daniel P. Mears, Florida State University

• George Pesta, Florida State University

• Vivian Hughes, Florida State University

• William D. Bales, Florida State University