Supermax Prisons

Project Summary for 2002-IJ-CX-0019 This project will accomplish two goals. The first will be to create and empirically-based conceptual framework to guide research on the goals and impacts of supermax prisons. The second goal will be to create a practitioner friendly, easily adapted and useable cost-benefit model of these supermax prisons. Specific objectives under the first goal include: identifying the goals and potential impacts of supermax prisons; determining, where possible, the level of impacts for different populations; describing how these goals and impacts are though to be achieved; and assessing how various stakeholders weight the importance of diverse goals and impacts. The specific objectives of the second goal of this project include: identifying construction/operational and opportunity costs of supermax prisons; monetizing costs and benefits associated with select impacts; developing a mapping of goals, impacts, and monetized costs and benefits; creating a cost-benefit model readily useable by state correctional systems; and generating cost-benefit analyses based on varying assumptions. CA/NCF