The controversy over the behavioral and mental health consequences of confinement in high-security prisons has its origins in penal policies dating to the early 19th century. The rationale leading to the establishment of the first super-maximum custody prison at Alcatraz Island, California and the conversion in 1983 of the federal penitentiary at Marion, Illinois to a ‘supermax’ regime is briefly described. The subsequent application of the ‘Marion model’ by state prison systems is reviewed in terms of legal challenges and the criticisms of mental health professionals. Several measures of conduct after release from conditions of supermax confinement for Alcatraz and Marion inmates are presented. The need for systematic research and the difficulties in undertaking studies of this important new direction in penal policy are discussed.
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