ABSTRACT
Chapter 5 focuses on the next phase of segregation, once prisoners are moved to the unit, and how the rules (both legal and non-legal) interact with the regime, shape staff conduct and influence individuals’ experiences. Specifically, the chapter identifies how staff culture is a dominant force and how the culture strongly influences the ways in which individuals engage with, and apply, rules. The chapter highlights how rules create a space in which staff discretion can thrive. Consequently, the rules do not always function in accordance with the rule of law. Instead, rules (and law) become subsumed within the unit’s culture, and this has important implications for reform efforts. This chapter concludes by discouraging efforts which focus only on policy or legal reform: they will not remedy the complex operational, organisational and cultural character of the unit.
