Awards won by Sharon Shalev:Winner, 2010 British Society of Criminology Book prize
'This is an extraordinarily important book, full of rare insights and invaluable information. Shalev uses a well balanced blend of theory and data - including observations, interviews, and official documents - to lay bare the harsh and dehumanizing realities of these draconian prison environments. She manages to penetrate and deconstruct the official rhetoric that is used to justify this problematic prison form, and provides a detailed, factual analysis that is at once troubling and highly instructive. The book is extremely well written, engaging, and astute. It is a must read for scholars, prison policy-makers, and interested citizens alike.' - Professor Craig Haney, University of California, Santa Cruz 'Supermax prisons are hidden from sight, deep in the inner structure of the American correctional system. Using publicly available information, official documents and intensive interviews, Sharon Shalev combines theoretical skill and a fine eye for empirical detail to ask and answer all the right questions about these extraordinary (and expanding) institutions. She shows clearly how the supermax is more than a modern high-tech version of solitary confinement and much more than risk-management by 'administrative segregation'. Shalev succeeds where much literature on imprisonment fails: comparing the 'internal' technologies of control - architectural design, techniques of constant surveillance, daily routine - with the 'external' ideologies of justification. An important book.' - Stan Cohen, Emeritus Professor of Sociology, LSE'The ''Supermax'' makes a high-technology contribution to the art of institutionalized inhumanity - offering architectural settings and regimes for physically isolating prisoners for protracted periods of time in extremely deprived circumstances, under the guise of achieving security-centered penological objectives. Sharon Shalev has provided us with a long-overdue authoritative, meticulously-researched portrait and thoughtful, scholarly analysis of this draconian innovation.' - Professor Hans Toch, School of Criminal Justice, University at Albany
This book examines the rise and proliferation of 'Supermaxes', large prisons dedicated to holding prisoners in prolonged and strict solitary confinement, in the United States since the late 1980s.
Drawing on unique access to two Supermax prisons and on in-depth interviews with prison officials, prison architects, current and former prisoners, mental health professionals, penal, legal, and human rights experts, it provides a holistic view of the theory, practice and consequences of these prisons. Given the historic uses of solitary confinement, the book also traces continuities and discontinuities in its use on both sides of the Atlantic over the last two centuries.
It argues that rather than being an entirely 'new' form of imprisonment, Supermax prisons draw on principles of architecture, surveillance and control which were set out in the early 19th century but which are now enhanced by the most advanced technologies available to current day prison planners and administrators. It asks why a form of confinement which had been discredited in the past is now proposed as the best solution for dealing with 'difficult', 'dangerous' or 'disruptive' prisoners, and assesses the true costs of Supermax confinement.
Contents
1 Introduction: the supermax phenomenon
2 Solitary confinement as a penal strategy: a brief history Solitary confinement as a tool of moral reform Solitary confinement as a tool of behaviour modification Solitary confinement as a risk management tool and the birth of the supermax doctrine Continuities and discontinuities in the use of solitary confinement
3 Factors and actors in the rise of supermax prisons The American Criminal Justice System - general trends Economic interests and the 'prison industrial complex' Professional interests: the case of the California Peace Officers Association (CCPOA)
4 Ideologies of control: discourses on the goals and roles of supermax prisons The roles of supermax prisons The goals of supermax prisons Underlying ideologies, claims and theories about human nature
5 The bureaucratisation of control: prisoner classification and placement in supermax prisons The roles of classification in the prison setting The initial classification of prisoners The 'Special Security' category: avenues into a supermax Assignment to custody, programme and privilege groups Reclassification/exit criteria: Snitch, Parole or Die The power to classify in the context of supermax prisons
6 Technologies of control: the architectural design, physical fixtures and security arrangements in supermax prisons Prison architecture The architecture of control: 'new generation' supermax prisons Pelican Bay State Prison Security Housing Unit: layers of isolation Architecture as an agent of penal control The design features of supermax prisons: positive or negative architecture?
7 Inside a supermax: daily routines and prisoner provision 'Inside, no one can hear you scream' Non-routine out-of-pod activities: medial and dental appointments, law library and family visits Maintaining order and discipline
8 The dynamics of control: views from the control room, views from the cells Guarding super-predators and evildoers: views from the control room Degraded and alone: views from the cells
9 Evaluating supermax confinement Operational success? Costs? Proportionate and rational? What next?
Appendix 1: Email responses to documentary film on supermaxes
Bibliography Index
Title Information:
Categories: Prisons Imprint: Willan Publishing ISBN-10: 1-843924-09-9 ISBN-13: 978-1-84392-409-8 Edition: 1st Format: Hardback Published: September 2009 Dimensions: 234x156mm Pages: 256pp Publisher: Willan Publishing Also available in: Paperback Price: GBP£ 55.00 Status: Available
This title is available for academic inspection (paperback only).
Surviving Russian Prisons: Punishment, economy and politics in transition
Laura Piacentini
Handbook on Prisons
Edited by Yvonne Jewkes
This book examines the rise and proliferation of 'Supermaxes', large prisons dedicated to holding prisoners in prolonged and strict solitary confinement, in the United States since the late 1980s.
