NCJ Number
187147
Journal
Canadian Journal of Criminology Volume: 43 Issue: 1 Dated: January 2001 Pages: 109-116
Editor(s)
Julian Roberts
Date Published
January 2001
Length
8 pages
Annotation
This article is a response/commentary to a 2000 Canadian research study on the psychological impact of prisoners placed in administrative segregation.
Abstract
The commentary begins with two inmate case studies and interviews that occurred within the segregation units of Kent Maximum Security Institution and William Head Medium Security Institution in the Pacific region focusing on their experiences. The commentary focuses on the qualitative limitations of research to draw broad conclusions about the impact of administrative segregation. In reviewing the 2000 Canadian research study, the focus was on the prisoner’s experience during segregation. Though an immediate concern, the study ignored the issue of long-term impact, particularly the possibility of post-traumatic stress. In addition, the study excluded the critical issue of the prisoner’s experience of the justice or injustice of his segregation; it is the single most important factor in the inmates’ case study description of the effect that segregation had upon them. The commentary suggests the 2000 study did not address this critical issue. Interviews in the one inmate case study took place over many years and hundreds of hours. The reform of the research agenda requires careful attention to the experiences of prisoners, reflected in their own voices and not just in a checklist of standardized personality tests. References