Managing Race on the Inside

Restrictive housing, historically known as solitary confinement, is one of the harshest carceral practices, exhibiting varying racial disparities across prison systems. In the western United States, some incarcerated populations adhere to 'racially organized prison politics'-an informal system of group-enforced rules structuring prison life. This social dynamic arguably prompts prison administrators to use restrictive housing as a tool for surveilling and controlling specific racial groups. This study analyzes administrative data on men's restrictive housing placements in a southwestern state prison system characterized by highly racialized dynamics. The analysis tests whether incarcerated Latino, Native American, and White men face greater risks of restrictive housing and longer stays compared to Black men due to group differences in adherence to racialized politics. Findings support these hypotheses, revealing varied uses of segregation and race-based differences in placement reasons. In essence, managing risk in prison is explicitly linked with managing race.