Hannah Beaucaire, an undergraduate senior majoring in Political Science and Criminal Justice, created a series of digital video stories on the topic of solitary confinement. The videos seek to make information about the practice and effect of solitary confinement more accessible and provide a resource for advocates pursuing solitary confinement policy reform. Beaucaire’s project was supported by the College of Arts and Science’s Summer Fellows Program and the Office of Undergraduate Research and Innovation at URI.
Beaucaire conceptualized the project while learning about solitary confinement in a criminology and criminal justice class taught by Dr. Natalie Pifer, an Assistant Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice and a SSIREP fellow. Dr. Pifer, who served as the faculty advisor for Beaucaire’s work, is a punishment scholar who studies criminal justice reforms, including solitary confinement. Dr. Pifer has received SSIREP support to collect interview data as part of her research on reforms undertaken by the Maine Department of Corrections. She has conducted research into reforms to solitary confinement policy undertaken by the Washington state Department of Corrections. Information about these reforms is available here.
Through Beaucaire’s videos, she considers the history of solitary confinement, seeks to represent its effects in practice, and discuss reforms. The entire video series, included below, has also been made available to the wider public on Youtube and Tiktok.
[Content advisory: please note that Beaucaire’s work contains descriptions and representations of the experiences of corrections officers and prisoners in solitary confinement which some viewers may find disturbing.]
Among other sources, the work above makes reference to the March 2013 ACLU report, Change Is Possible: A Case Study of Solitary Confinement Reform in Maine, and to the book Six by Ten: Stories from Solitary, edited by Taylor Pendergrass and Mateo Hoke and published by Haymarket Books in 2018.
Find some interesing podcasts from URI Students relating to the subject!
Professor Emily Lynch, of URI’s Political Science department, had her students in her Rhode Island politics course (PSC 305) make podcasts on policy subjects within our state of Rhode Island. Find them below and have a listen!
Tyler Vanable’s Podcast on university and college curriculums in Rhode Island.
Julia Melendez’s Podcast on the upcoming Seekonk River Soccer Stadium in Pawtucket and possible implications of the Rhode Island rent stability act.
Peter Remke’s and Isaiah Aponte’s Podcast on homlessness in Rhode Island: Actions taken so far in housing and what still needs to be done.
Rachel Severn’s Podcast on the police bill of rights in Rhode Island and its implications on our communities.
Kirsten Hauschildt’s and Chady Bandoma’s Podcast on the intersectionality of poverty and quality education in Rhode Island and the greater New England area.