Topical Working Group on the Use of Administrative Segregation in the U.S., October 22-23, 2015

• NCJ Number: 249785
• Date Published: August 2015
• Length: 39 pages
• Agencies: NIJ
• Publication Type: Legislation/Policy Analysis; Issue Overview

Annotation

The purpose of this topical working group meeting - which was attended by stakeholders from a variety of research, practice, and policy settings -was to enable the U.S. Justice Department's National Institute of Justice (NIJ) to assess the current state of knowledge on the use of administrative segregation in U.S. corrections institutions and to guide the development of a strategic and comprehensive research agenda on this issue.

Abstract

Meeting panels provided current information from researchers' and practitioners' perspectives on topics related to administrative segregation, and breakout sessions provided for further discussion and input by meeting participants. The eight panels involved presentations and discussions of the following topics: 1) the use of segregation in corrections; 2) predictors and characteristics of who is given administrative segregation; 3) the relationship between institutional violence and administrative segregation; 4) mental health and administrative segregation; 5) the relationship between correctional officer safety and wellness and administrative segregation; 6) civil rights enforcement and administrative segregation; 7) safe alternatives to segregation; and 8) key research questions and current data collection efforts. A summary of proposed next steps by NIJ's director indicates NIJ will partner with other Federal agencies in making investments in identified critical areas, so as to ensure that administrative segregation is not overused and when used is not abusive to the physical and mental health of inmates.