Date of Conferral

2023

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Psychology

Advisor

Megan L. Corley

Abstract

It may or may not be true that the conditions and practices associated with supermax sentencing are both creating and exacerbating psychological harm for the inmates who are exposed to them. To date, there is evidence that both supports and refutes the contention that supermax sentencing is psychologically harmful; thus, the literature necessitates additional research into this phenomenon. This qualitative study was conducted to add to the extant body of knowledge relevant to supermax prisons and populations by exploring the lived experiences of professionals who have worked with them. This research was conceptually based in the current understanding of social isolation as detrimental to mental health, theoretically based in social control theory, and guided by two central questions that aimed to develop a more thorough understanding of whether supermax prison conditions negatively impacted the mental health of supermax inmates. Data were collected from the interviews of two correctional officers and thematic findings suggested that supermax prisons were underresourced, both in terms of staff and funding; nonuniform in applying institutional policy and procedure; environments that created vulnerability from multiple different sources; and misrepresented in the media. Understanding the lived experiences of supermax inmates and the extent to which their mental health is impacted by the conditions of the institutions that house them has important implications for positive social change, namely, that institutional goals are being met in a way that minimizes the psychological harm to the inmates.

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