In the veil of rights – Voluntary isolation in Danish prisons

Abstract

Legal scholars and state authorities frame voluntary isolation as both a prisoner's right and an act of freedom, echoing the ‘exceptionalism’ narrative of the Danish penal system. Through qualitative interviews with isolated prisoners and section managers of isolation units, this article investigates the lived realities of self-imposed isolation. The findings reveal a central paradox; prisoners rarely perceive segregation as voluntary and interpret its condition as a form of punishment. Voluntary isolation not only exacerbates the general pains of imprisonment but creates a space devoid of regulation or rehabilitative purpose in which prisoners feel abandoned and helpless. The concept of ‘pockets of punitiveness’ is proposed to capture the tensions between formal rights and experienced punishment. In doing so, the article engages with the political, legal and moral implications of presenting isolation as a product of free choice, acknowledging that while not intentionally designed as punitive, voluntary isolation inflicts considerable suffering.