Supermax

Sharon Shalev is a Fellow at the Mannheim Centre for Criminology at the London School of Economics.

Winner of the 2010 British Society of Criminology Book Prize‘This is an extraordinarily important book, full of rare insights and invaluable information. Shalev uses a well balanced blend of theory and data — including observations, interviews, and official documents —to lay bare the harsh and dehumanizing realities of these draconian prison environments... The book is extremely well written, engaging, and astute. It is a must read for scholars, prison policy-makers, and interested citizens alike.’-Professor Craig Haney, University of California, Santa Cruz‘Sharon Shalev combines theoretical skill and a fine eye for empirical detail to ask and answer all the right questions about these extraordinary (and expanding) institutions...Shalev succeeds where much literature on imprisonment fails: comparing the "internal" technologies of control —architectural design, techniques of constant surveillance, daily routine—with the "external" ideologies of justification. An important book.’-Professor Stanley Cohen, Emeritus Professor, London School of Economics‘The "Supermax" makes a high-technology contribution to the art of institutionalized inhumanity —offering architectural settings and regimes for physically isolating prisoners for protracted periods of time in extremely deprived circumstances, under the guise of achieving security-centered penological objectives. Sharon Shalev has provided us with a long-overdue authoritative, meticulously-researched portrait and thoughtful, scholarly analysis of this draconian innovation.’-Professor Hans Toch, School of Criminal Justice, University at Albany'Shalev ultimately provides a meticulous, authoritative account that effectively combines theory with documentary material in an accessible format. In this regard Supermax provides for a broad readership including academics, students and the general public while also serving as vital reading for legal practitioners and advocates, correctional staff and policymakers along with interested community members.''Shalev presents powerful arguments against supermax that are crafted in a way which ultimately confronts and cuts through the official reasoning and rhetoric that comprise powerful justificatory discourses underpinning the continuing push for prison securitization. It is for this reason and along with others described above that Shalev’s book is a must read.'-Bree Carlton, School of Political and Social Inquiry, Monash University, in the Australian & New Zealand Journal of Criminology, Vol 44 Iss 2

• 1. Introduction: The Supermax Phenomenon 2. Solitary Confinement as a Penal Strategy: A Brief History 3. Factors and Actors in the Rise of Supermax Prisons 4. Ideologies of Control: Discourses on the Goals and Roles of Supermax Prisons 5. The Bureaucratisation of Control: Prisoner Classification and Placement in Supermax Prisons 6. Technologies of Control: The Architectural Design, Physical Fixtures and Security Arrangements in Supermax Prisons 7. Inside a Supermax: Daily Routines and Prisoner Provision 8. The Dynamics of Control: Views from the Control Room, Views from the Cells 9. Evaluating Supermax Confinement