Abstract

This article presents a rare longitudinal analysis of solitary confinement use in one state prison system: spanning 2002–2017 in the Washington Department of Corrections (DOC). An ongoing partnership with DOC officials facilitated methodological and conceptual improvements, allowing us to construct a dataset that provides a rich description of who is in solitary confinement, for how long, and why. Operationalizing solitary confinement as the intersection of the most serious custody status with the most restrictive housing location, we describe significant changes in ethnic composition and behavioral profiles of people in solitary confinement and in frequency and duration of solitary confinement use. These results suggest how particular policy interventions have affected the composition, numbers, and lengths of stay in solitary confinement. Combining longitudinal analysis and iterative engagement with DOC officials, we provide a roadmap for better understanding solitary confinement use in the United States now and in the future.

摘要

本文介绍了一个州监狱系统中单独监禁使用情况的罕见纵向分析：2002年至2017年，在华盛顿惩教署（DOC）中进行。与DOC官员的持续合作促进了方法和概念上的改进，使我们能够构建一个数据集，对谁被单独监禁，持续多长时间以及为何原因进行详细描述。将单独监禁作为最严密的监护状态和最严格的住房位置的交集，我们描述了单独监禁中种族组成和人们的行为特征以及单独监禁的频率和持续时间的重大变化。这些结果表明，特定的政策干预措施如何影响单独监禁的组成，人数和停留时间。