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Date: April 29, 2024 Mon
Time: 11:41 pm
Time: 11:41 pm
Results for inmate segregation
2 results foundAuthor: O'Keefe, Maureen L. Title: One Year Longitudinal Study of the Psychological Effects of Administrative Segregation Summary: One of the most widely debated topics in the field of corrections – the use of long‐term administrative segregation (AS) – has suffered from a lack of empirical research. Critics have argued that the conditions of AS confinement exacerbate symptoms of mental illness and create mental illness where none previously existed. Empirical research has had little to offer this debate; the scant empirical research conducted to date suffers from research bias and serious methodological flaws. This study seeks to advance the literature in this regard. This study tested three hypotheses: (1) offenders in AS would develop an array of psychological symptoms consistent with the security housing unit (SHU) syndrome, (2) offenders with and without mental illness would deteriorate over time in AS, but at a rate more rapid and extreme for the mentally ill, and (3) inmates in AS would experience greater psychological deterioration over time than the comparison groups. Study participants included male inmates who were placed in AS and comparison inmates in the general population (GP). Placement into AS or GP conditions occurred as a function of routine prison operations. GP comparison participants included those at risk of AS placement due to their institutional behavior. Inmates in both of these study conditions (AS, GP) were divided into two groups – inmates with mental illness (MI) and with no mental illness (NMI). A third comparison group of inmates with severe mental health problems placed in San Carlos Correctional Facility, a psychiatric care prison facility, was also included. A total of 302 inmates were approached to participate in the study, and 55 refused to participate or later withdrew their consent. Participants were tested at 3‐month intervals over a yearlong period. Standardized test data were collected through self‐report, correctional staff and clinical staff measures. Tests with demonstrated reliability and validity were selected to assess the eight primary constructs of interest: (1) anxiety, (2) cognitive impairment, (3) depression‐hopelessness, (4) hostility‐anger control, (5) hypersensitivity, (6) psychosis, (7) somatization, and (8) withdrawal‐alienation. Extensive analyses of psychometric properties revealed that inmates self‐reported psychological and cognitive symptoms in remarkably reliable and valid ways. The results of this study were largely inconsistent with our hypotheses and the bulk of literature that indicates AS is extremely detrimental to inmates with and without mental illness. Similar to other research, our study found that segregated offenders were elevated on multiple psychological and cognitive measures when compared to normative adult samples. However, elevations were present among the comparison groups too, suggesting that high degrees of psychological disturbances are not unique to the AS environment. In examining change over time patterns, there was initial improvement in psychological well‐being across all study groups, with the bulk of the improvements occurring between the first and second testing periods, followed by relative stability for the remainder of the study. Patterns indicated that the MI groups tended to be similar to one another but were significantly elevated compared to the NMI groups, regardless of their setting. Contrary to our hypothesis, offenders with mental illness did not deteriorate over time in AS at a rate more rapid and more extreme than for those without mental illness. Finally, although AS inmates in this study were found to possess traits believed to be associated with long‐term segregation, these features cannot be attributed to AS confinement because they were present at the time of placement and also occurred in the comparison study groups. Implications for policy and future research are discussed. Details: Colorado Springs, CO: Colorado Department of Corrections; University of Colorado - Colorado Springs, Department of Psychology, 2010. 150p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed February 14, 2011 at: http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/232973.pdf Year: 2010 Country: United States URL: http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/232973.pdf Shelf Number: 120766 Keywords: Inmate ClassificationInmate SegregationMaximum SecurityMentally Ill Inmates |
Author: U.S. General Accounting Office Title: Bureau of Prisons: Improvements Needed in Bureau of Prisons’ Monitoring and Evaluation of Impact of Segregated Housing Summary: The U.S. Federal Bureau of Prisons confines about 7 percent of its 217,000 inmates in segregated housing units for about 23 hours a day. Inmates are held in Special Housing Unit (SHUs), Special Management Units (SMUs), and Administrative Maximum (ADX). GAO was asked to review BOP’s segregated housing unit practices. This report addresses, among other things: (1) the trends in BOP’s segregated housing population, (2) the extent to which BOP centrally monitors how prisons apply segregated housing policies, and (3) the extent to which BOP assessed the impact of segregated housing on institutional safety and inmates. GAO analyzed BOP’s policies for compliance and analyzed population trends from fiscal year 2008 through February 2013. GAO visited six federal prisons selected for different segregated housing units and security levels, and reviewed 61 inmate case files and 45 monitoring reports. The results are not generalizable, but provide information on segregated housing units. What GAO Recommends GAO recommends that BOP (1) develop ADX-specific monitoring requirements; (2) develop a plan that clarifies how BOP will address documentation concerns GAO identified, through the new software program; (3) ensure that any current study to assess segregated housing also includes reviews of its impact on institutional safety; and (4) assess the impact of long-term segregation. BOP agreed with these recommendations and reported it would take actions to address them. Details: Washington, DC: GAO, 2013. 72p. Source: Internet Resource: GAO-13-429: Accessed June 1, 2013 at: http://www.gao.gov/assets/660/654349.pdf Year: 2013 Country: United States URL: http://www.gao.gov/assets/660/654349.pdf Shelf Number: 128885 Keywords: Corrections ManagementInmate ClassificationInmate SegregationPrison AdministrationPrisons (U.S.)U.S. Federal Bureau of Prisons |