DOI: 10.3886/icpsr38091
title: Exploring the Causes and Consequences of Restrictive Housing in America's Prisons and Jails, Colorado, Missouri, North Carolina, Oregon, 2015-2019
title: Archival Version

description: The overall purpose of this mixed methods, multi-site study was to explore the use of restrictive housing in United States prisons and jails from the perspective of incarcerated individuals and corrections officers who work in restrictive housing units. Restrictive housing, also known as solitary confinement or segregation, is defined as keeping an incarcerated person in their cell for 22 or more hours per day. To study the extent to which exposure to restrictive housing affects outcomes (i.e., mental/physical health problems, deterrence from future misconduct) for incarcerated individuals, the research team collected administrative records of housing moves ("stints") from the Colorado Department of Corrections and Missouri Department of Corrections. Records are available for all individuals incarcerated between January 1, 2015 and December 31, 2017. Data from Colorado includes roughly 1.3 million observations from 39,849 incarcerations. Data from Missouri includes roughly 1.1 million observations from 79,208 incarcerations. To study the impact of working in restrictive housing units on officers' physical, emotional, and mental wellbeing, the team administered surveys to officers working in correctional facilities in Missouri (n=376), North Carolina (n=249), and Oregon (site 1 n=47, site 2 n=133). The research team also conducted officer focus groups, interviews with agency leadership, observations of restrictive housing and general population units, and a national comprehensive survey about the use of restrictive housing in jails. Only the administrative records and officer wellbeing survey data are available in this collection.
description: The goals of the study were to understand the primary causal effects of restrictive housing on outcomes for incarcerated people, and to explain how working in restrictive housing units affects the wellbeing of correctional officers.
description: Administrative records were shared by the Colorado Department of Corrections and the Missouri Department of Corrections. Records were organized so that each row is represented by a single housing stint (i.e., each time an individual moves to a new cell, this is represented by a new observation). The datasets consist of all individuals incarcerated in Colorado and Missouri between January 1, 2015 and December 31, 2017. The entire incarceration period of any individual housed during the time period is included. Officer wellbeing surveys were administered to correctional officers working at facilities in North Carolina, Missouri, and Oregon at the time of survey administration. For North Carolina and Missouri facilities, officers were provided a link to the study website (Qualtrics) through flyers distributed directly to officers or to superintendents to give to officers in facilities, especially those where restrictive housing unit beds were concentrated. For Oregon facilities, only two sites were selected for data collection due to the size of their restrictive housing units and corrections officer workforce comparative to other sites in the state. Paper surveys were distributed by a site liaison on location for each shift. Interested staff could visit the site liaison while on shift and complete the survey. Respondents were offered a $10 gift card from a local vendor for their participation.
description: Variables in administrative records data include housing type, duration of incarceration, duration of housing stint, custody level, age, race, sex, mental health level, and number of self-harm and suicide attempts. Variables in officer wellbeing surveys are grouped by topic: Job-related stressors, hypervigilance about surroundings, workload demand and expectations, burnout, work-life balance, psychological distress, depression symptoms, physical health symptoms (e.g., headache, insomnia, fatigue, loss of appetite), PTSD symptoms, adverse events (experienced or witnessed), sleep quality, alcohol and tobacco use, exercise, and techniques for relieving stress. Survey respondent demographic variables include housing unit assignments, years worked in corrections, current job title, age, height/weight, gender, marital status, race, education level, and veteran status.
description: Not applicable
description: Response Rates: Not available
description: Presence of Common Scales: Organizational Social Context (OSC) Work-Family Conflict Scale Maslach Burnout Inventory Perceived Stress Scale Hypervigilance Scale Physical Symptoms Scale Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression (CES-D) Scale COPE Inventory
description: Datasets: DS0: Study-Level Files DS1: Administrative Data: Colorado Department of Corrections DS2: Administrative Data: Missouri Department of Corrections DS3: Officer Wellness Survey Data: Missouri DS4: Officer Wellness Survey Data: North Carolina DS5: Officer Wellness Survey Data: Oregon (Site 1) DS6: Officer Wellness Survey Data: Oregon (Site 2)
description: Individuals incarcerated in Colorado and Missouri between 2015 and 2017 Correctional officers working in Missouri, North Carolina, and Oregon facilities between 2018-2019. Smallest Geographic Unit: State
description: record abstracts; on-site questionnaire; web-based survey