In the United State, correctional authorities are relying increasingly on special super-maximum security facilities to confine disruptive or dangerous prisoners. Prisoners in these facilities spend an average of twenty-three hours a day in small, often windowless cells, facing years of extreme social isolation, enforced idleness, and extraordinarily limited recreational or educational opportunities. Prolonged confinement in these conditions can be devastating psychologically, particularly for the many prisoners who are incarcerated with pre-existing psychiatric illnesses.