Prison Segregation

A truly unique, in-depth analysis of life inside a solitary confinement unit, conducted by a scholar with a rare combination of talents. Brown brings together a sophisticated legal perspective on the "rule of law" in an often lawless environment and a skilled ethnographer's knack for identifying contextual nuance and truly hearing the voices of the persons with whom she interacts. It is at times a searing, brutally frank depiction of the extraordinarily powerful institutional forces at work in this prison-within-a-prison, forces that can deeply impact and harm the persons involuntarily confined inside, to be sure, but also, in different ways, the staff who choose to work there as well as those who attempt to study it. Must reading for anyone interested in the psychological and moral toll of our current penal regimes.

Prof. Craig Haney
Distinguished Professor of Psychology, University of California Santa Cruz.

In illuminating the conditions and relationships in a prison segregation unit, Dr Brown shows the limited usefulness of the rule-of-law standards where staffing practices and perceptions are at least as important as formal rules in structuring official discretion. Anyone interested in the prison system or in official discretion more widely should read this book.

Prof. David Feldman
Emeritus Rouse Ball Professor of English Law, University of Cambridge

Segregation holds prisoners at the edge of what the law allows - and sometimes beyond. Ellie Brown's invaluable and deeply researched book explores the history, law and culture of a process of isolation that is harmful and dehumanising, including to staff.

Mr. Alex Sutherland
Chair of the IMB at HMP Whitemoor

In few places are human rights put to their test the way they are in prisons. The deepest end of a prison is its segregation unit where people are isolated and literally at the hands of the authorities. To what degree and in what way does law penetrate these prisons within the prison? This book answers this critical question by applying a socio-legal method through which not only law in the books but also law in practice can be understood. As a result, this highly innovative and excellent study uncovers a hollow approach to justice in a place where it is needed the most.

Prof. Peter Scharff Smith
Professor in the Sociology of Law, Oslo University