The Psychological Effects of Solitary Confinement
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NIJ Update The Psychological Effects of Solitary Confinement By Philip Bulman study funded by the least once a month, and a librarian Having outsiders arrive in a closed National Institute of Jus- delivered books and magazines once a environment may affect the prisoners’ tice (NIJ) which examined week. Prisoners were allowed at least perceptions of the institutions in A the psychological effects one 20-minute phone call and one non- which they live, and the effects may of solitary confinement, known as contact visit each month. be larger for those in solitary confine- administrative segregation (AS) in cor- ment. Researchers arriving to inter- rections, showed that the mental view inmates is a major event in the health of most inmates did not decline monotonous routine of prison life, during the course of a year — con- especially for an inmate who is in iso- trary to the findings of some previous lation 23 hours a day. studies.1 Researchers assessed 247 Prisoners may be A related factor is the Hawthorne men in the Colorado prison system. placed in solitary effect, in which social and behavioral The sample included inmates in AS at researchers’ interactions with and the Colorado State Penitentiary and confinement, or AS, observation of subjects being studied two other groups for comparison: the affects the subject’s behavior. The general prison population and resi- for violent or name stems from a study of factory dents of San Carlos Correctional Facili- workers at Western Electric’s ty, a psychiatric care prison. The sam- disruptive behavior. Hawthorne plant in Illinois in the 1920s ple of inmates was divided into those and 1930s. Researchers set out to with mental illness and those with no observe how changes in lighting mental illness.2 would affect the workers’ productivity. Results showed that regardless of the What Is Administrative changes made, productivity increased. Conducting Research in They decided that the productivity Segregation? increased because the workers saw Prisons themselves as special participants in Prisoners may be placed in solitary an experiment.3 It may be possible confinement, or AS, for violent or dis- Researchers who study prison life that the Hawthorne effect was present ruptive behavior. AS typically involves face unique challenges. Prison is a in the Colorado study of administra- single-cell confinement for 23 hours self-contained environment in which tive segregation.4 daily. Inmates are allowed one hour everyone’s activity is tightly regulated On the other hand, inmates may be out of the cell for exercise and show- and monitored. Gaining access to a wary of researchers. Establishing trust ers. Facilities for AS are expensive to prison for the purposes of conducting in order to collect accurate information build and maintain. research may be difficult. Further- is a prime concern to researchers, who In the Colorado study, the cells more, prisoners are regarded as a vul- know that inmates may withhold were 80 square feet and had 35 square nerable population for research study information or tell researchers only feet of unencumbered floor space. purposes, and this requires additional what they think the researchers want Each cell contained a bunk, toilet, protection for them. Some experts to hear. sink, desk and stool and had a window believe that prisoners have little or no to the outside and one to the inside of freedom to make informed decisions the prison. Neither window opened, and therefore cannot give informed Method and Results so the prisoner could not control consent. Consequently, researchers The researchers tested three airflow. who want to conduct prison research hypotheses: Prisoners were permitted at least face heightened scrutiny from institu- five hours a week for recreation, as tional review boards. In addition, in • Offenders in AS would develop well as 15-minute showers three times correctional settings, it may be diffi- an array of psychological symp- a week. They received most services cult to implement rigorous evaluation toms consistent with the “secu- at their cell doors, including meals. designs, such as randomized con- rity housing unit syndrome,” Mental health clinicians visited at trolled trials. 58 — June/July 2012 Corrections Today including anxiety, hallucina- The researchers noted that their 3 Lovell, David, L. Clark Johnson and tions, excitability and out- findings might not apply to other Kevin C. Cain. October 2007. Recidivism of bursts; prison systems. Systems with more supermax prisoners in Washington state. • The mental health of offenders restrictive living conditions and Crime and Delinquency, 53: 633-656. with and without mental illness fewer treatment and other programs 4 Recent examinations of the Hawthorne would worsen over time in AS, may have different results. Addition- data question the original conclusions but mentally ill inmates would ally, the study was limited to literate and suggest there was either no effect or a decline more rapidly and have adult men. Because participation was placebo effect. For examples, see: Levitt, more serious illnesses; and voluntary, the study sample excluded Steven D., and John A. List. May 2009. Was • Inmates in AS would experi- those with serious mental illnesses, there really a Hawthorne Effect at the hawthorne plant? An analysis of the origi- ence greater psychological who may be especially vulnerable to nal illumination experiments. The National decline over time than the com- the stresses of solitary confinement. Bureau of Economic Research, NBER parison groups in the general Finally, because inmates were not Working Paper no. 15016, retrieved from prison population and the psy- randomly assigned to study groups, http://www.nber.org/papers/w15016; and chiatric care prison. the groups and their outcomes may Questioning the hawthorne effect: Light not be comparable. work. June 2009. The Economist. Retrieved Inmates and staff completed stan- The researchers also noted that from http://www.economist.com/node/ 13788427. dardized tests measuring states such AS may have negative effects that as anxiety, depression and psychosis were not measured in the study. For 5 For more discussion of the Colorado at three-month intervals during the example, previous research has study and the challenges involved in course of the study. To participate in shown that inmates released directly prison research, see: An update of the the study, inmates had to read and from AS to the streets had dramati- national institute of corrections. June 21, write at a proficient level because the cally higher recidivism rates than 2011. Corrections and Mental Health assessments were conducted using those who first returned to the general Retrieved from http://community.nicic. 5 gov/blogs/mentalhealth/archive/tags/ self-administered pencil-and-paper prison population. Overall, the Col- Colorado+Supermax+Study/default.aspx. materials; no clinical psychologist orado study adds to the knowledge interviewed the inmates. base, but it does not resolve the Philip Bulman is a writer in the The study’s results failed to con- debate about the effectiveness of AS. National Institute of Justice’s Office of firm the hypothesis. In fact, the results Communications. showed initial improvements in psy- ENDNOTES chological well-being in all three 1 Read the final report, One Year Longitudi- groups of inmates. Most of the nal Study of the Psychological Effects of improvement occurred between the Administrative Segregation, at http://www. first and second testing periods and ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/232973.pdf. was followed by relative stability. 2 Placement into AS or general prison con- Overall, the researchers found that 20 ditions occurred as a function of routine percent of the study sample improved prison operations. General population mental health, and seven percent comparison participants included those worsened during the study period. at risk of AS placement due to their insti- tutional behavior. Reprinted with permission of the American Correctional Association, Alexandria, Va. All rights reserved. June/July 2012 Corrections Today — 59.