Data on Inmates in Ontario Being Made Available to the Public
"The Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services has conducted
a series of point-in-time reviews which includes inmates in segregation
who have possible mental health conditions. The first two reviews
examined whether and when various standard procedures such as mental
health screening, physician referrals, and mental health reassessments,
occurred for the identified inmates. The ministry also committed to
doing a further review of screening for mental health with inmates who
were segregated, at six facilities chosen by the Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC)."
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Showing posts with label administrative segregation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label administrative segregation. Show all posts
Review of the Federal Bureau of Prisons' Use of Restrictive Housing for Inmates with Mental Illness
"The Federal bureau of Prisons (BOP) is responsible for confining offenders in environments that are safe, humane, cost-efficient, and appropriately secure. To do so, the BOP utilizes various forms or Restrictive Housing Unit (RHU) to confine certain inmates, including those with mental illness. However, according to recent research and reports, as well as the BOP's own policy, confinement in RHUs, even for relatively short periods of time, can adversely affect inmates' mental health and be particularly harmful for inmates with mental illness....
The Office of the Inspector General conducted this review to examine the BOP's use of RHUs for inmates with mental illness, including trends in the use of restrictive housing and the screening, treatment, and monitoring of inmates with mental illness who are housed in RHUs. We found significant issues with the adequacy of the BOP's policies and its implementation efforts in this critical area."
"The Federal bureau of Prisons (BOP) is responsible for confining offenders in environments that are safe, humane, cost-efficient, and appropriately secure. To do so, the BOP utilizes various forms or Restrictive Housing Unit (RHU) to confine certain inmates, including those with mental illness. However, according to recent research and reports, as well as the BOP's own policy, confinement in RHUs, even for relatively short periods of time, can adversely affect inmates' mental health and be particularly harmful for inmates with mental illness....
The Office of the Inspector General conducted this review to examine the BOP's use of RHUs for inmates with mental illness, including trends in the use of restrictive housing and the screening, treatment, and monitoring of inmates with mental illness who are housed in RHUs. We found significant issues with the adequacy of the BOP's policies and its implementation efforts in this critical area."
"Serious Problems" in Use of Segregation in Prisons, Ontario Ombudsman Reports
"The use of segregation in Ontario jails is full of 'serious problems,' including improper tracking and monitoring of prisoners, says the province’s ombudsman in a new report....
DubĂ© is calling on the province to clearly define what segregation is, noting that it is inconsistent among correctional facilities, saying it should reflect the conditions inmates are in, and not just simply if they are placed in a “'segregation unit.'
He called on the government to legislate a clear definition of segregation based on the conditions an inmate faces, rather than the actual location within the prison, and train correctional staff. He also urged the province set up 'independent panels to review all segregation placements and place the onus on the ministry (of community safety and correctional services) to show that each placement is justified.'...
The ombudsman’s report notes the toll that segregation takes on inmates, calling it 'a severe form of punishment that can have grave and lasting effects on a person’s mental state,' and said it should only be used as a last resort."
View the Full Report
"The use of segregation in Ontario jails is full of 'serious problems,' including improper tracking and monitoring of prisoners, says the province’s ombudsman in a new report....
DubĂ© is calling on the province to clearly define what segregation is, noting that it is inconsistent among correctional facilities, saying it should reflect the conditions inmates are in, and not just simply if they are placed in a “'segregation unit.'
He called on the government to legislate a clear definition of segregation based on the conditions an inmate faces, rather than the actual location within the prison, and train correctional staff. He also urged the province set up 'independent panels to review all segregation placements and place the onus on the ministry (of community safety and correctional services) to show that each placement is justified.'...
The ombudsman’s report notes the toll that segregation takes on inmates, calling it 'a severe form of punishment that can have grave and lasting effects on a person’s mental state,' and said it should only be used as a last resort."
View the Full Report
Restrictive Housing in the U.S.: Issues, Challenges, and Future Directions
"Institutional corrections and, more specifically restrictive housing and other strategies that facilities use to manage and control incarcerated individuals, have become a national priority. Restrictive housing, commonly known as solitary confinement or administrative segregation, is a common practice in corrections. A recent national estimate by the Bureau of Justice Statistics reveals that on an average day in 2011-2012, as many as one in five individuals has spent time in restrictive housing while in jail or prison. Despite its use throughout corrections facilities nationwide, we lack scientific evidence about its effectiveness and long-term impact.
To further our understanding of these issues" the NIJ has released "Restrictive Housing in the U.S.: Issues, Challenges, and Future Directions. This volume includes 10 chapters, each with a distinct focus and written by leading experts from various disciplines including criminology, psychology, sociology, and law.
View the Report
"Institutional corrections and, more specifically restrictive housing and other strategies that facilities use to manage and control incarcerated individuals, have become a national priority. Restrictive housing, commonly known as solitary confinement or administrative segregation, is a common practice in corrections. A recent national estimate by the Bureau of Justice Statistics reveals that on an average day in 2011-2012, as many as one in five individuals has spent time in restrictive housing while in jail or prison. Despite its use throughout corrections facilities nationwide, we lack scientific evidence about its effectiveness and long-term impact.
To further our understanding of these issues" the NIJ has released "Restrictive Housing in the U.S.: Issues, Challenges, and Future Directions. This volume includes 10 chapters, each with a distinct focus and written by leading experts from various disciplines including criminology, psychology, sociology, and law.
View the Report
Administrative Segregation in U.S. Prisons
"...Across the political spectrum, there is growing concern about the efficacy and utility of administrative segregation practices, particularly those that involve extended solitary confinement, and growing support for finding ways to safely reduce its use across correctional systems. In 2006, the bipartisan Commission on Safety and Abuse in America's Prisons, co-chaired by the Honorable John J. Gibbons and the former U.S. Attorney General, Nicholas de B. Katzenbach, noted that the rapid increase in the use of solitary confinement across the country had outpaced the remarkable growth in overall correctional populations.... The Commission deemed solitary confinement both expensive and counterproductive and recommended limiting its use...."
"...Across the political spectrum, there is growing concern about the efficacy and utility of administrative segregation practices, particularly those that involve extended solitary confinement, and growing support for finding ways to safely reduce its use across correctional systems. In 2006, the bipartisan Commission on Safety and Abuse in America's Prisons, co-chaired by the Honorable John J. Gibbons and the former U.S. Attorney General, Nicholas de B. Katzenbach, noted that the rapid increase in the use of solitary confinement across the country had outpaced the remarkable growth in overall correctional populations.... The Commission deemed solitary confinement both expensive and counterproductive and recommended limiting its use...."
How to get out of Solitary - One Step at a Time
"For many policy makers and activists, curbing the use of solitary confinement is a moral imperative: Depriving prisoners of human contact exacerbates and even produces mental illness, increases the risk of suicide, and generally engenders a sense of hopelessness. But for the nation’s prison administrators and officers—whether their motivations come from political pressure, court orders, the high cost of solitary cells, or genuine human concern—the problem is practical. Many of those in solitary are mentally ill or were placed there for their own protection and can be shuffled out quickly. But what about the prisoners who landed there by attacking other inmates or officers?
Prison is an environment that breeds antagonism and psychologists have long agreed that solitary confinement only exacerbates a cycle of recalcitrance and retribution. Prisoners resist their punishments, thereby driving officers to punish them more. At Alger [Correctional Facility], the staff found it could reverse this process simply by giving prisoners a reason not to be violent.
Since it began in 2009, Alger’s Incentives in Segregation program has allowed the prison to transform one of its three 88-man segregation wings into a general-population wing. The program has spread to multiple prisons in the state, and the daily average number of Michigan prisoners in administrative segregation has dropped by nearly 20 percent, from 1,204 in 2008 to 982 in 2013."
"For many policy makers and activists, curbing the use of solitary confinement is a moral imperative: Depriving prisoners of human contact exacerbates and even produces mental illness, increases the risk of suicide, and generally engenders a sense of hopelessness. But for the nation’s prison administrators and officers—whether their motivations come from political pressure, court orders, the high cost of solitary cells, or genuine human concern—the problem is practical. Many of those in solitary are mentally ill or were placed there for their own protection and can be shuffled out quickly. But what about the prisoners who landed there by attacking other inmates or officers?
Prison is an environment that breeds antagonism and psychologists have long agreed that solitary confinement only exacerbates a cycle of recalcitrance and retribution. Prisoners resist their punishments, thereby driving officers to punish them more. At Alger [Correctional Facility], the staff found it could reverse this process simply by giving prisoners a reason not to be violent.
Since it began in 2009, Alger’s Incentives in Segregation program has allowed the prison to transform one of its three 88-man segregation wings into a general-population wing. The program has spread to multiple prisons in the state, and the daily average number of Michigan prisoners in administrative segregation has dropped by nearly 20 percent, from 1,204 in 2008 to 982 in 2013."
Carleton PhD student creates new tool for reducing prison segregation http://t.co/n848toWtb0 via @metrotoronto
— Crim Library UTL (@CrimLib) July 22, 2015
This lawsuit claims Canada has been abusing mentally ill prisoners. https://t.co/AsQKtRKkbv via @vicenews
— Crim Library UTL (@CrimLib) July 24, 2015
Office of the Correctional Investigator: Administrative Segregation in Federal Corrections. 10 Year Trends
"Between March 31, 2005 and March 31, 2015 the overall CSC incarcerated population increased by 13.6% (from 12,623 to 14,335). During the same period women increased 77.4% (from 368 to 653), men 11.6% (from 12,255 to 13,682), Aboriginal offenders 52.4% (from 2,296 to 3,500), non-Aboriginal offenders 4.9% (from 10,327 to 10,835), Black offenders 77.5% (from 792 to 1,406) while Caucasian offenders decreased -6.1% (from 8,815 to 8,281). The Caucasian group is the only group showing a steadily declining population.
The number of admissions to segregation has grown at a slower rate than for the equivalent CSC incarcerated population of Federally Sentenced Women (FSW), male, Aboriginal, non-Aboriginal and Caucasian inmates. However, Black segregation admissions have grown at a faster rate than the incarcerated population of Black offenders."
"Between March 31, 2005 and March 31, 2015 the overall CSC incarcerated population increased by 13.6% (from 12,623 to 14,335). During the same period women increased 77.4% (from 368 to 653), men 11.6% (from 12,255 to 13,682), Aboriginal offenders 52.4% (from 2,296 to 3,500), non-Aboriginal offenders 4.9% (from 10,327 to 10,835), Black offenders 77.5% (from 792 to 1,406) while Caucasian offenders decreased -6.1% (from 8,815 to 8,281). The Caucasian group is the only group showing a steadily declining population.
The number of admissions to segregation has grown at a slower rate than for the equivalent CSC incarcerated population of Federally Sentenced Women (FSW), male, Aboriginal, non-Aboriginal and Caucasian inmates. However, Black segregation admissions have grown at a faster rate than the incarcerated population of Black offenders."
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