10.1177/0032885504265080 THE PRISON JOURNAL / June 2004 Pizarro, Stenius / SUPERMAX PRISONS SUPERMAX PRISONS: THEIR RISE, CURRENT PRACTICES, AND EFFECT ON INMATES JESENIA PIZARRO VANJA M. K. STENIUS Rutgers University In recent years, a number of new approaches in corrections have developed, one of which is the super-maximum, or “supermax,” prison. This article explores the roots of these institutions, explains how they operate, and examines their potential effects on inmate populations. The extant empirical research on supermax facilities suggests that these institutions have the potential to damage inmates’mental health while fail- ing to meet their purported goals (e.g., deterring inmates in the general prison popu- lation from committing criminal acts inside prison), resulting in added problems for correctional administrators and increased economic costs to public budgets without apparent benefits. Keywords: supermax; solitary confinement; prison administration; administrative segregation The United States has built the largest prison system in the world (Currie, 1998), and the prison population has skyrocketed in the past decade. Be- tween 1973 and the beginning of the 1990s, the number of prisoners in- creased by 332%, and the incarceration rate per 100,000 citizens increased by over 200% (Bureau of Justice Statistics, 1993; Clear, 1994). The growth in the prison population brought with it an increase in young, more violent inmates as well as court rulings affecting the powers of guards and adminis- trators. The combination of these factors pushed many corrections practi- tioners and scholars to try to develop more effective ways to manage penal institutions and to ensure prison safety. In doing so, a number of new ap- proaches in corrections emerged in recent years, one of which is the super- The authors wish to thank Dr. Travis Pratt for his helpful comments and assistance in the development of this article. THE PRISON JOURNAL, Vol. 84 No. 2, June 2004 248-264 DOI: 10.1177/0032885504265080 © 2004 Sage Publications 248