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10 CB X JS B M TSW G À D £ C U £ 9 street roots Education * Dialogue ^ Independence NATIONAL SOLITARY, from page 8 “segregation” or “special housing” units at non-supermax prisons, according to a recent New Yorker article. (“Hellhole” by Atul Gawande, March 30, 2009) In Ohio, mid-2007,1,869 men and 90 women lived in isolation, whether through formal segregation or security levels 4 or 5, according to the American Correctional Association. It's not known: how many prisoners reside in solitary confinement at some point during their stay. Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasville and Ohio State Penitentiary in Youngstown can hold prisoners in lockdown for years at a time, even their entire sentences. Prison administrators and correctional officers refer to the various forms of these 23-hour-a-day cells as “administrative segregation.” Prisoners prefer a less euphemistic name: “thè hole” or “the box.” Besides those names, there are several bureaucratic others. After an alleged infraction, an inmate might first be placed in “security control” for one to 1 5 days while an investigation unfolds. If deemed guilty, the inmate might spend an additional one tot 15 days in “disciplinary control,” which can be extended to 30 days for subsequent infractions. An inmate can be referred to “local control” for up to six months if his presence in general population is à security threat or if he’s “failed to adjust to population.” “Those criteria are “broad and subject to wide interpretation,” says Shirley Pope, executive director of the CIIC. If an inmate’s own security is threatenèd, he can be kept in solitary confinement in local control even though he might not be the cause of thei potential disturbance. After “local control,” an inmate can be transferred to 4B, a long-term lockdown “who attempted suicide, some multiple times; who threw feces and food; who engaged in rattling their doors and pounding; who yelled from cell to cell or screamed incoherently at all hours.” ; Prisoners suffered sleep deprivation from the constant noise. Many suicide attempts happen in segregation units. Inmates attempt to hang themselves with sheets, overdose with stockpiled medications or cut themselves with blades from safety razors. Ironically, segregation disproportionately houses those prisoners least able to endure the psychological impact of isolation. Advocates point out that the mentally ill rarely belong in prison in the first placQ,, much less in solitary confinement. The mentally ill might be targeted under report by Human Rights Watch held that New York State was inflicting cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment by isolating drug' offenders while also denying them treatment during lock-up. “I’ve had 15,16 drug tickets, no assaults or anything like that,” said Peter G., a prisoner quoted in the rep o rt “I’ve never been in a treatment program. Now I’m in the box till 2012. I’m a drug addict. If you know I’m a drug addict why are you putting me in a box?” | Ohio offers some substance-abuse treatment to those in isolation, with programs varying by institution, according to CIIC. ' Advocates question the segregation of drug offenders in the first place. They say that to the extent their infraction stems from an underlying addiction, they should be treated Many drag offenders continue lo abuse substances d u rin g th e ir incarceration. They can be sent to segregation a lte r they're caught w ith ille g a l substances.', Bat so lita ry confinement-does nothing to m itigate or heal th e ir addiction. A report by Hum an Rights Watch held th a t New York State was In flic tin g cruel, inhum an and degrading treatm ent by Isolatin g drag offenders w hile also denying them treatm ent d u rin g lock-up. instead of punished. the “failure to atjjust” criterion and then sent Some administrators say solitary to punitive solitary units for behavioral confinement reduces violence and helps -problems related to their illnèss. Mentally ill maintain order. But the bipartisan state prisoners are nearly twice as likely to; Commission on Safety and Abuse in physically or verbally assault staff or other America’s Prisons found the very opposite. prisoners, according to a 2006 study by the “The increasing use of high-security , U.S. Department of Justice. The solution is not to stiffen penalties. For • segregation is counter-productive, often causing violence inside facilities and mentally ill “feces throwers” at Southern contributing to recidivism after release,” the Ohio Correctional Facility, the CIIC reported commission said. that “prosecution for harassment does little if The commission called for ending long anything in deterrence.” Instead, state term isolation in Û.S. prisons. It determined prisons should improve mental-health th a t a îte r ’l T ' a ^ C ’ sd lïtary cdhiinêhMtTÎ^wâS* s^r^ûfl^^^elTpartÎsahCouhciï ‘oFStateT“ w h e re so m e p eo p le sp en d y ea rs in extre m e Serio u sly d etrim e n tal to p riso n e r s’ w ell-being. G overn m en ts found th at in ad eq u acies in Some administrators maintain that they isolation. These lockdown unite arefrt mental-health services “can lead to inmate-on- have no alternative to locking dangerous technically considered “segregation,” as j staff assaults, -inmate-on-inmate assaults and prisoners in solitary units. But correctional prisoners in 4B aren’t being punished for other use-of-force incidents.” particular infractions. But it’s “segregation policies in other nations undermine that Meanwhile, for the mentally ill in solitary claim. The British provide their m ost under a different name, the same conditions, confinement, their health deteriorates, their dangerous prisoners with opportunities for, thè éame lockdown,” Pope says. behavior worsens and their security level work, education and programming intended Unlike segregation units, 4B units don t rises. They might be transferred to higher- to increase social skills, according to The have regular mental-health rounds. Pope is security institutions. , New Yorker. The Missouri Division of Youth concerned that mentally ill prisoners in 4B “If they had a mental health advocate, that Services recently reduced its use of solitary aren’t properly cared for. The CIIC recently^ wouldn’t happen,” Pope says. “They require confinement for juveniles.- ; identified 218 mentally ill prisoners m 4B at therapeutic interventions before they’re Swain calls segregation “psychological Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in “bumped up in security status and end up at warfare.” . Lucasville, “in spite of the known mental- _ “The use of isolation not only escalates the health deterioration stemming from long-term Lucasville.” In a sensé, the mentally ill are trapped. inmate’s sense of alienation, but also further isolation.” “Their behavior is destined to deteriorate serves to remove the individual from proper under those conditions,” Pope says. “Then staff supervision,” the CIIC found. Psychological warfare their poor behavior is used to justify why they To be rehabilitative, prisons must promote should be there.” “It is widely accepted among mental-health integration over isolation, therapy over Unsurprisingly, many drug offenders I professionals that long-term isolation of the torture. ' continue to abuse substances during their mentally ill results in deterioration, not Reprinted from Street Vibes newspaper, incarceration. They cairbe sent to recovery,”'the CIIC noted in a 2008 re p o rt, segregation after they’re caught with illegal Cincinnati, O h io ^ S tr e e t News Service: www. Nevertheless, the mentally iU seem substances. But solitary confinement does street-papers.org propelled toward solitary confinement nothing to mitigate or heal their addiction. A Swain says he was surrounded by people M irador . 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