Solitary Confinement
Solitary confinement—also known as segregation, isolation and restrictive housing—is a growing safety and human rights concern across the country. Originally implemented to deal with people committing violence within prisons, segregation is now relied on heavily to manage challenging populations, house vulnerable people, and punish people for all levels of infractions, from serious to minor and nonviolent.
Vera has been working since 2005 to end its widespread use. The collective effort, involving many organizations, is making a difference. Today there’s a chorus of opposition that stretches far beyond advocates. And a growing number of corrections leaders are moving away from the use of total isolation in favor of more humane and effective strategies to achieve safe facilities for staff and the people incarcerated.
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Safe Alternatives to Segregation
The latest research, reports, policy briefs, and information on promising practices
Reducing Segregation
Segregation—also known as solitary confinement and restrictive housing—is a growing safety and human rights concern across the country. Originally implemented to deal with people committing violence within prisons, segregation is now relied on heavily to manage challenging populations, house vulnerable people, and punish people for all levels of in ...
Archived
Project
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Sara Sullivan
Solitary Confinement
Common Misconceptions and Emerging Safe Alternatives
While the precise number of people held on any given day in what’s commonly called solitary confinement—though also known as segregated or restricted housing—is not known with any certainty, estimates run between 80,000 to 100,000 in state and federal prisons. However, evidence mounts that the practice produces many unwanted and harmful outcomes—fo ...
Related Work
Series: Addressing the Overuse of Segregation in U.S. Prisons and Jails
Women Face Unique Harms from Solitary Confinement
Related Resources Becoming Trauma Informed: A Core Value in Servicing Women and Girls Becoming Trauma Informed: A Training for Correctional Professionals Gender-Responsive Strategies: Research, Practice, and Guiding Principle for Women Offenders Gender Responsive Interventions in the Era of Evidence-Based Practice: A Consumer’s Guide to Understa ...
Blog Post
Barbara Owen
Series: Addressing the Overuse of Segregation in U.S. Prisons and Jails
Looking to Norway for Inspiration on Reducing the Use of Solitary Confinement
Recognized as a leader in progressive incarceration, Norway’s system is based on the idea that courts are for punishment and correctional facilities are for creating better neighbors. Correctional policies and practices center around respect for the human dignity of incarcerated people and staff. They focus primarily on rehabilitation, resocializat ...
Vera mourns the loss of our colleague and justice champion Fred Patrick, and honors his life and legacy
We lost a good man this weekend. It is with profound sadness that we share news of the passing of our beloved colleague and friend Fred Patrick, director of our Center on Sentencing and Corrections (CSC). A mentor to many staff at Vera, Fred was a passionate and tireless advocate for a more just and humane criminal justice system. A son of Baton R ...
Blog Post
Vera Institute of Justice
Step-down Programs and Transitional Units
A Strategy to End Long-term Restrictive Housing
The practice of restrictive housing—where a person is held in a cell for 22 to 24 hours per day with minimal activity or human interaction—has come under increased scrutiny from researchers, advocates, policymakers, the media, and corrections agencies themselves. Recognizing this, corrections departments around the country have begun exploring ways ...
Safe Prisons, Safe Communities
From Isolation to Dignity and Wellness Behind Bars
Vera is working to end the use of restrictive housing (also called solitary confinement or segregation) by partnering with states and local corrections agencies to implement safe and effective alternative strategies. Increasing evidence shows that restrictive housing—where people are held in a cell for 22-24 hours per day—is harmful to incarcerated ...
Project
Sara Sullivan
Embracing Human Dignity
Annual Report 2018
Embracing Human Dignity
Annual Report 2018
The Vera Institute of Justice is working to radically transform incarceration in America by replacing punishing practices with an approach that prioritizes compassion, true accountability, healing, restoration, opportunity, and hope. Learn more about our commitment to human dignity in our annual report 2018.
Reimagining Prison
Reimagining Prison Webumentary
Revealing the Prisons within Prisons
Isolation is at the core of incarceration. Prisons—often located in remote corners of the country—are surrounded by high walls that visibly separate those who are incarcerated from the community. Prisons also employ a wide range of housing practices to limit incarcerated people’s physical freedom, contact with others, and access to privileges and ...
Blog Post
Meg Osborn
Women in Segregation
Many efforts to understand and reform the use of segregation—also commonly called solitary confinement or restrictive housing—focus on incarcerated men. However, what is often ignored are women’s unique pathways into segregation and the differential impact that its restrictive conditions can have on them. Through the Safe Alternatives to Segregatio ...
Rethinking Restrictive Housing
Lessons from Five U.S. Jail and Prison Systems