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Normalizing Exceptions: Solitary Confinement and the Micro-politics of Risk/Need in Canada

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Extreme Punishment

Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in Prisons and Penology ((PSIPP))

Abstract

Extreme forms of prison management including the use of force, restraints, and solitary confinement have become de facto behavior management strategies for prisoners struggling with mental health issues in Canada. This chapter focuses specifically on the use of solitary confinement (segregation) in Canadian female federal prisons to illustrate how extreme forms of penal control are becoming increasingly normalized in Canadian prisons (Zinger 2013), thus exacerbating the overall pains of imprisonment,2 According to the Office of the Correctional investigator of Canada’s 2013 report, approximately 24.3 percent of the federal prison population has spent some time in segregation. Much of the increase in the prison population being subjected to segregation is limited to certain classes of offenders, especially those with mental health issues.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Toronto, Mississauga, Canada

    Kelly Hannah-Moffat & Amy Klassen

Authors
  1. Kelly Hannah-Moffat
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  2. Amy Klassen
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of California, Irvine, USA

    Keramet Reiter

  2. University of California, Berkeley, USA

    Alexa Koenig

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© 2015 Kelly Hannah-Moffat and Amy Klassen

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Hannah-Moffat, K., Klassen, A. (2015). Normalizing Exceptions: Solitary Confinement and the Micro-politics of Risk/Need in Canada. In: Reiter, K., Koenig, A. (eds) Extreme Punishment. Palgrave Studies in Prisons and Penology. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137441157_8

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