Restrictive Housing Placement and Length of Stay: A Latent Class Analysis With Mixed Distributions

• Published date: 01 October 2023
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/08874034231184139
• Author: Shi Yan,Kristen M. Zgoba,Jesenia M. Pizarro
• Date: 01 October 2023
• Subject Matter: Articles

https://doi.org/10.1177/08874034231184139

Criminal Justice Policy Review

2023, Vol. 34(5) 462 –487

© The Author(s) 2023

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DOI: 10.1177/08874034231184139

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Article

Restrictive Housing

Placement and Length of

Stay: A Latent Class Analysis

With Mixed Distributions

Shi Yan1, Kristen M. Zgoba2,

and Jesenia M. Pizarro1

Abstract

On average, one in five incarcerated persons will spend some time in restrictive

housing (RH) during their incarceration. Despite a growing body of research on the

topic of RH, few have taken into account the heterogeneity of the incarcerated

individuals’ pre-RH risk profiles. In the present study, we fill this gap by estimating a

latent class analysis (LCA) model to explore the heterogeneity among a sample of

incarcerated individuals in New Jersey. Our LCA has both dichotomous and count

variables, and we specified a model with logit and Poisson functional forms. We then

examine how the latent group membership predicted RH placement and length of

stay using a hurdle model. We identified a four-group LCA model, and found that

groups featuring misconduct records were more likely to experience RH and stay

longer in RH. Prior criminal records were less predictive of these RH outcomes.

Keywords

restrictive housing, segregation, typology, latent class analysis

Introduction

The placement of incarcerated individuals in restrictive housing (RH) has sparked a

great deal of debate among scholars, practitioners, and activists. Some argue it is a

1Arizona State University, Phoenix, USA

2Florida International University, Miami, USA

Corresponding Author:

Shi Yan, School of Criminology and Criminal Justice, Arizona State University, 411 N. Central Ave., Ste.

600, Phoenix, AZ 85004, USA.

Email: shiyan@asu.edu

1184139CJPXXX10.1177/08874034231184139Criminal Justice Policy ReviewYan et al.

research-article2023

Yan et al. 463

form of cruel and unusual punishment that causes harm (Fellner & Mariner, 1997).

Others posit that it is an effective management strategy that keeps the prison popula-

tion safe by deterring and incapacitating problematic individuals (Mears et al.,

2020). This debate has resulted in an increase in scholarly interest in the effect of RH

placement on correctional institutions, the psychological well-being of individuals

serving time in RH, and their post-release behaviors. In the fields of criminology and

criminal justice, the bulk of the research has focused on the effects of RH on recidi-

vism after release from correctional institutions, with mixed results being reported

(Zgoba et al., 2020).

The mixed results may be due to potential variations in the incarcerated popula-

tion, the types of individuals placed in RH, and the multidimensionality of risk.

Differences in the measurement of key constructs, facility conditions, and restrictive

housing admission policy may have all contributed to the variation in findings. The

majority of published studies on RH used either a regression model to predict RH

placement (Labrecque, 2018; Tasca & Turanovic, 2018) or a propensity score match-

ing (PSM) approach that compares post-release outcomes between RH and non-RH

individuals (Butler et al., 2017; Wildeman & Andersen, 2020; Zgoba et al., 2020).

While both methods have greatly contributed to the RH literature, a common short-

coming is that neither directly examines the heterogeneity within the population.

These studies investigate how each individual risk factor is associated with RH

placement or recidivism, but they offer little insight into how these factors bundle

together to form any typology from incarcerated people. The current study addresses

this issue by employing a latent class analysis (LCA) with mixed underlying distri-

butions to depict the types of incarcerated individuals. In doing this, we examine

who is more likely to serve time in RH and the effect of “type” on RH placement and

length of stay.

Restrictive Housing: What We Know

RH placement generally means that individuals are segregated from the general prison

population in various ways.1 RH can take the form of administrative segregation (AS),

disciplinary segregation (DS), and protective custody (PC, Frost & Monteiro, 2016).

Generally, AS segregates individuals for longer indeterminate terms (i.e., 30 days or

more) due to the persistent engagement of infractions and crime while incarcerated.

DS segregates individuals for a shorter period as a form of punishment for prison rule

infractions. PC segregates individuals to provide them with safety due to their identity

or the crimes they have committed. Placement in restrictive housing is fairly common

in correctional institutions, with 1 in 5 incarcerated individuals serving some time in

this type of housing (Beck, 2015). Recent estimates suggest that approximately 66,000

incarcerated individuals are housed in some type of RH within American correctional

institutions at any point in time (Baumgartel et al., 2015). Moreover, RH placement

can be due to a variety of reasons. According to Tasca and Turanovic (2018), over half

of RH placements were recorded as “routine operations” (such as reclassification and

lateral transfer).