Journal article
Solitary confinement and post-release drug and alcohol test failure among formerly incarcerated men on parole in Pennsylvania (2010–2023)
The International journal of drug policy, v 145, 104985
01 Nov 2025
PMID: 40974699
Featured in Collection : Drexel's Newest Publications
Abstract
To examine the relationship between solitary confinement (23-hours per day in-cell with restricted movement and isolation) and illicit drug and alcohol test failure during parole supervision.
We used administrative data on all formerly incarcerated men on parole in Pennsylvania (n = 74,478), 2010–2023. We used a series of regression analyses to examine the relationship between solitary confinement and illicit drug and alcohol test failure and heterogeneity across those classified as having severe levels of substance use disorders.
Solitary confinement was positively associated with test failure during parole for those without (O.R. = 1.080; 95 % CI = 1.027–1.135) and for those with a history of severe substance use disorders (O.R. = 1.263; 95 % CI = 1.192–1.339). The odds of test failure within one month were also higher for individuals who experienced solitary confinement (O.R. = 1.331; 95 % CI = 1.221–1.450).
Taken with previous research, our findings suggest solitary confinement modestly increases the risk of illicit drug and alcohol use and re-criminalization among those on parole and especially among those with existing substance use issues.
Metrics
3 Record Views
Details
- Title
- Solitary confinement and post-release drug and alcohol test failure among formerly incarcerated men on parole in Pennsylvania (2010–2023)
- Creators
- Claudia N. Anderson (Corresponding Author) - Florida State UniversityJessica T. Simes - Boston UniversityJaquelyn L. Jahn - Drexel UniversityBruce Western - Russell Sage Foundation
- Publication Details
- The International journal of drug policy, v 145, 104985
- Publisher
- Elsevier
- Number of pages
- 7
- Grant note
- Arnold Ventures
The data for this project come from the Pennsylvania Solitary Study (PASS) and was supported by Arnold Ventures. We gratefully acknowledge the PA DOC and PBPP who provided access to the administrative data used for this analysis.
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- Urban Health Collaborative; Epidemiology and Biostatistics
- Web of Science ID
- WOS:001577211700001
- Scopus ID
- 2-s2.0-105016370699
- Other Identifier
- 991022118470404721
UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
This publication has contributed to the advancement of the following goals:
InCites Highlights
Data related to this publication, from InCites Benchmarking & Analytics tool:
- Collaboration types
- Domestic collaboration
- Web of Science research areas
- Substance Abuse