Assessing the Nature and Use of “Restrictive Housing” (Solitary Confinement) in America

• In Event: Prison Working Group: Prison design and housing conditions: Implications for detained persons, policymakers, and the community

Abstract

In 2016, the National Institute of Justice of the United States Department of Justice issued a report on and solicited research proposals to study “restrictive housing.” Heretofore, practitioners and academics had referred to this type of prison housing as solitary confinement, administrative segregation, and supermax, among other monikers. This paper will examine whether the nature and use of restrictive housing has changed in the United States since 2016. One assessment will be the prevalence of the use of restrictive housing by state, by the federal government and overall. Another line of inquiry will be legislative reforms or state and federal policy changes regarding entrance, length of stay, and operational changes. Finally, outcomes of court cases regarding solitary confinement since 2016 will be reviewed. These changes will be discussed in light of current policy debates and the need for further research on issues surrounding restrictive housing.

Author

• Ann Marie Rocheleau, Stonehill College