ABSTRACT
Chapter 7 is the concluding chapter and notes, with regret, how law alone is not the most appropriate mechanism for improving standards in the unit. Specifically, the law cannot correct the attitudes, customs and culture of the segregation unit, nor can it correct the problems found elsewhere in the prison system (overcrowding, mental illness, volatile wings and inexperienced staff), nor the ‘legitimacy deficit’ found in the prison, nor the deficiencies of our social, economic, political and criminal justice system. The law may be of limited consequence until there is greater acceptance that segregation is innately harmful and dehumanising, and capable of perpetuating violence and violations of dignity. Therefore, the chapter closes by making the point that, although law may not be the most appropriate mechanism for reform, it does not mean that all is lost. The law is one of a range of factors affecting the prison, so we should not limit ourselves to seeking change by law reform alone.
