when segregation was used as punishment, and to get a sense of how it was used
in different institutions. Finally, where this was available, we asked for data on
incidents of assaults, self harm and staff injuries.2
The visits and data provided a wealth of information which this report can only
capture in brief. The report focuses exclusively on seclusion and restraint related
practices, and does not address other aspects of conditions of detention and
the treatment of people deprived of their liberty more generally. It describes the
situation observed and necessarily therefore provides a snapshot of the use of
seclusion and restraint at the time of the visits. Plans, aspirations and intentions
to reduce the use of seclusion and restraint which were expressed at the time of
visits are not reflected in the report, though I am heartened and encouraged to
learn of progress towards this goal in recent months, and of the launch of the
Department of Corrections' Transforming the Management of At-Risk Prisoners
review, and look forward to its findings.
b. Definitions
For the purposes of this report, ‘solitary confinement’ is defined as the social
and physical isolation of individuals in a place of confinement for twenty-two
to twenty-four hours a day.3 Though widely used in different places of detention
all over the world, very rarely is this form of confinement called ‘solitary
confinement’, as this term appears to be associated with undesirable practices
of the past. Instead, depending on the detention context and their proposed
aim, solitary confinement units are variously known as ‘segregation’, ‘isolation’,
‘seclusion’, ‘de-escalation’, ‘separation’, ‘high security’, ‘supermax’ and ‘special
management’ units, to name but a few terms used in this context.
In New Zealand, the terms most commonly used in the different detention
settings visited for the purpose of this review were: 'segregation' (of which
there are several types, discussed in the following section) in prison settings;
'seclusion', 'de-escalation' or 'low stimulus' in health and disability settings; and,
in children and young people's care and protection and youth justice residences,
'secure care' and 'time out'.
2
Unfortunately, this data was not readily available from all the detaining agencies, and is therefore not
reviewed here. Once obtained, the data on staff assaults should be examined in more detail.
3 This definition is based on the Istanbul Statement on the Use and Effects of Solitary Confinement (2007) (Full
text available at: www.solitaryconfinement.org/Istanbul) and the Mandela Rules. It is intended to include
instances where individuals are not held in a room or a cell for 22-24 hours, but are still separated from
others. For example, as was the case regarding regulations in children and young people’s residences which
required those who were held in the Secure unit to spend the majority of the day outside their Secure room
(but still within the confines of the Secure unit and in separation from others).
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