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COPYRIGHT 2001 Canadian Criminal Justice Association
When the senior author first began to investigate the effects of prison life, concerns were narrowly focused if not naive.(2) In the 1960's, Kingston Penitentiary had an inmate count of 1,000, but only several inmates at any one time were placed in solitary confinement and generally for only a few days! During this period, the senior author was assigned by the Chief Psychiatrist (Dr. George Scott) to monitor the "mental health" of the offenders placed in solitary. Dr. Scott's view was that solitary confinement was akin to a sensory deprivation(3) environment and that a majority of the offenders "found their way" into the situation to reinforce their schizo-affective symptoms or to cope with other mental health problems. Subsequently, a research group was formed to assess whether prison solitary confinement did produce sensory deprivation-like effects (Gendreau, Freedman, Wilde, and Scott 1972).(4) The results of this research were summarized and a number of clinical guidelines or recommendations regarding the use of solitary confinement were produced by Gendreau and Bonta (1984). Regrettably, almost no research has been conducted since then to address some of the concerns expressed in that article.
Little did we realize how much of a growth industry the use of various prison segregation environments would become in later years (Gendreau, Tellier, and Wormith 1985). Frankly, the current situation is appalling, as it appears that approximately 50% of offenders have experienced some type of segregation (Correctional Service Canada 1999) and, increasingly, prisons are keeping offenders in solitary for months, if not years (Immarigeon 1992). Sadly, there are repeated calls to make prison living conditions even tougher (Gendreau, Goggin, and Cullen 1999; Kane 1997). We are also perturbed by the relative lack of attention devoted to this topic in the criminological journals and the paucity of quantitative research on the effects of prison life employing even the most rudimentary of quasi-experimental designs. Could one imagine the medical profession ignoring evaluations of such an established treatment?
Thus, this journal deserves credit for its continued attention to the plight of the incarcerated dating back...
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