Cultural Boundaries: Examining Inmate Perceptions of Treatment within Restricted Housing Units

• In Event: My Hole Life: Living and Working in Solitary Confinement In the Mass Incarceration Era

Abstract

Inmates residing within in restricted housing units (solitary confinement) experience heightened rules including enhanced restrictions on liberties, movement and interactions. As one U.S. Department of Corrections tries to reform its use of RHUs and the treatment of inmates within them, inmates’ perceptions of how they are treated provide an important gauge for how the reform is working. Using a mixed methods design, this project presents analysis from both inmates and staff within RHUs regarding culture, role conflict and inmate treatment. Then, this data is compared with inmate grievance reports and correctional officer misconduct reports to piece together what inmates perceive regarding their RHU treatment and why and how RHU staff delivers and adheres to RHU rules, norms and policies. Implications for this research include extending theoretical concepts of carceral environments’ effect on both staff and inmates and practical/policy recommendations for improving RHU reform within U.S. correctional systems.

Author

• Taylor S. Hartwell, George Mason University