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Solitary Confinement

Inmates are placed in solitary confinement for one of three reasons: (1) as a punishment for violating an institutional rule, (2) to protect the security of the institution, or (3) to protect inmates from others in the institution who may wish to harm them. Over the decades, various terms, such as “segregation,” “special handling units,” “supermax units,” “treatment centers,” and “dissociation,” have been used to label solitary confinement. Solitary confinement is also commonly referred to as “the hole,” a euphemism created by inmates.

Placing inmates in solitary is always controversial, since research suggests that it may be detrimental to the physical and mental health of inmates. The constitutionality of solitary confinement, with respect to the Eighth Amendment against cruel and unusual punishment, has also been questioned. However, other studies indicate that solitary confinement does not harm individuals and can be a useful tool for prison management.

History

The roots of solitary confinement may be found in the Pennsylvania prison system of the late 18th century. The Pennsylvania system required that all prisoners were kept in total isolation from one another for the duration of their confinement, in contrast to the Auburn system, in which individuals worked together all day but were not permitted to talk to or to contact one another. The Pennsylvania system was created by Quakers who felt that criminal reform could best occur through isolation from bad influences and time spent alone in penitence. Thus, prisons were created in which each inmate was housed in a separate cell large enough for a bed and workspace. All prisoners had their own walled yard for solitary exercise, and meals were served to them alone in their cells. Communication among the prisoners or between prisoners and guards was forbidden.

Although the Pennsylvania system was created with good intentions, the Quakers' solitary system had many troubling effects. Insanity and suicide rates were high among those held in the solitary cells, and prisons built along this model were expensive to operate. Such difficulties eventually led to its abandonment in North America in favor of the Auburn system of imprisonment. Prisons today are a mixture of the two systems. While they are primarily run like the Auburn penitentiary, allowing for communication and contact between prisoners, the use of solitary confinement as a punishment and managerial tool remains.

Current uses

As stated, solitary confinement these days is generally used for one of three purposes. First, it is utilized as a punishment for the violation of an institutional rule, in what is usually known as disciplinary or punitive segregation. Second, prisoners may be placed in solitary confinement to ensure order in the institution. When this happens, the confinement is usually referred to as administrative segregation. Finally, inmates may request to be placed in solitary confinement for their own protection. This practice is called protective custody. In the U.S. federal system, regulations have been set in place by the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) to govern the use of these three forms of solitary confinement. Similar legislation exists in Canada under the Corrections and Conditional Release Act. Strategies governing this practice vary in the different states of the United States.

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