Special Incapacitation: The Emergence of a New Correctional Facility for Women Political Prisoners

• NCJ Number: 112323
• Journal: Social Justice Volume: 15 Issue: 1 Dated: (Spring 1988) Pages: 31-47
• Author(s): G Zwerman
• Date Published: 1988
• Length: 17 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: Presented at the 37th Annual Meeting of the Society for the Study of Social Problems, Chicago, August 14, 1987

Annotation

The high-security unit (HSU) at the Federal penitentiary in Lexington, Ky., fosters isolation, extensive surveillance, and sensory deprivation for its five women residents, three of whom have had antigovernment political associations.

Abstract

Evidence supports the view that these women political prisoners are in the HSU under the current policy of the Federal Bureau of Prisons. This special unit is intended to effect not only incapacitation and deterrence but also experimentation in the effects of sensory deprivation on the behavior of avid political radicals. The cruel conditions in the HSU have been documented by a National Prison Projects team, which has recommended that the unit be abolished or at the very least undergo a radical change in its regime. The Federal Bureau of Prisons has yet to make good on its promises to make such changes. 7 notes and 24 references.