Sharon Shalev

University of Oxford | OX · Centre for Criminology

A report on the use of solitary confinement rooms for children in state-run residences and health and disability institutions in New Zealand from the mid 1960's to date.

This report presents key findings from a project which set out to examine the use of solitary confinement in prison systems across the world. Solitary confinement – also known as segregation, isolation, and separation, amongst many other terms- is an extreme form of detention. It is where the prison’s most vulnerable individuals, and the most chall...

This is a comprehensive study of the use of solitary confinement, or ‘iso’ (short for ‘isolation’), in the Netherlands, focusing on ‘regular’ isolation units where people are isolated as punishment or as a protective measure. The study seeks to explore: a) what prison isolation entails in terms of material conditions and the daily regime in isola...

This report draws on the research and findings of Dr Philippa Tomczak and her collaborators at the University of Nottingham to offer recommendations to the PPO and policy makers for improving prisoner death investigations and promoting change

The use of solitary confinement in prison environments is both widespread and controversial. The harms of the practice are widely recognised, and efforts to reduce its use and harmfulness focus on limiting the time prisoners can be held in solitary confinement and setting standards to ensure that the conditions in which prisoners are held do not am...

Solitary confinement cells are where those considered to be too dangerous to themselves or to others, too troublesome, too mentally unwell, or simply different, will be locked away, spending 22-24 hours a day alone, out of sight and out of mind. Solitary confinement is an extreme and harmful practice on the cusp of prohibited treatment of people de...

This report, First, Do No Harm: segregation, restraint, and pepper spray use in women’s prisons in New Zealand, was written by Dr Sharon Shalev at the invitation of the Human Rights Commission. It focuses on the use of solitary confinement and force against women in prison, particularly Mäori women. The report identifies a worrying gap between pol...

This paper explores the role of judges in authorising the extension of placements in solitary confinement in Israeli prisons for lengthy periods of time. It qualitatively examines, through content analysis of 354 Israeli court decisions, how judges negotiate and rationalise the harmful effects of solitary confinement when balanced against the priso...

This chapter looks at the use of solitary confinement in three jurisdictions where the author has conducted research: England and Wales, New Zealand, and the United States. It asks when and why prisoners are placed in solitary confinement in these jurisdictions, and what are the conditions of their confinement. The chapter's main focus is on the lo...

This feedback has been prepared cross-institutionally with a transdisciplinary approach by Associate Professor Elizabeth Grant, School of Architecture and Urban Design, RMIT University, Dr Sharon Shalev, consultant at Solitaryconfinement.org and Centre for Criminology, Oxford University, and Professor Bronwyn Naylor, Graduate School of Business and...

What is 'solitary confinement'? ; Solitary confinement and the Nelson Mandela Rules; Defining solitary confinement; What constitutes 'humane conditions' and 'meaningful human contact'?; Placing breaks on the use of solitary confinement; Conclusion.

The report examines the use of seclusion and restraint across different detention contexts in New Zealand. It is based on visits to seventeen different places of detention including prisons, health and disability units, a youth justice residence, a children's care and protection residence, and police custody suites, which took place between 26 Octo...

The report examines the use of seclusion and restraint across different detention contexts in New Zealand. It is based on visits to seventeen different places of detention including prisons, health and disability units, a youth justice residence, a children's care and protection residence, and police custody suites, which took place between 26 Octo...

The report examines the use of seclusion and restraint across different detention contexts in New Zealand. It is based on visits to seventeen different places of detention including prisons, health and disability units, a youth justice residence, a children's care and protection residence, and police custody suites, which took place between 26 Octo...

The report examines the use of seclusion and restraint across different detention contexts in New Zealand. It is based on visits to seventeen different places of detention including prisons, health and disability units, a youth justice residence, a children's care and protection residence, and police custody suites, which took place between 26 Octo...

Background: The report examines the use of seclusion and restraint across different detention contexts in New Zealand. It is based on visits to seventeen different places of detention including prisons, health and disability units, a youth justice residence, a children's care and protection residence, and police custody suites. It is also based on...

Solitary confinement is an extreme form of imprisonment. Research demonstrates that it can have a profound negative impact on health and well-being, the nature and extent of which depends on the mental health and premorbid adjustment of the individual and the extent, conditions, duration and context of the confinement. Those with mental disorder or...

This article examines the extent and nature of the use of solitary confinement in Europe. It offers insight into how different jurisdictions manage those they classify as requiring longer term segregation from the wider prison population, and asks if and how such practices differ to those prevalent in the US “supermax” prisons – massive isolation p...

This article examines how the prolonged solitary confinement and additional deprivations in supermax prisons measure up against legal protections afforded to those deprived of their liberty. It suggests that if the prohibition against cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment were to be taken at face value, supermax confinement would meet the definitio...

This book examines the rise and proliferation of ‘supermax’ prisons in the United States since the late 1980s. It describes the daily reality of life for the tens of thousands of prisoners labelled the ‘worst of the worst’ in the American prison system and subjected to strict solitary confinement and extreme measures of control, inspection and surv...

"As this sourcebook clearly demonstrates, solitary confinement has a well documented negative impact on mental health and wellbeing and may amount to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, particularly when used for a prolonged time. The use of solitary confinement should therefore be strictly limited to exceptional cases or where it...