From 'I am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang' to 'Shawshank Redemption' to 'Orange is the New Black,' a key feature of prison movies has been 'the hole,' or 'stir,' the dungeon-like 'solitary confinement' cell where prisoners who break the rules are placed.
But News Radio 1200 WOAI reports the Texas Department of Criminal Justice has ended the age old practice of placing inmates in what is now called 'Administrative Segregation' for violating the rules, saying study after study has shown it does no good in making convicts less likely to break the rules, and exacerbates mental illness and anti-social behavior.
But Jason Clark, who is a spokesman for the state prison system, says that doesn't mean rule breakers will not be punished. It just means wardens will use other methods of punishment.
"The loss of good time," he said. "Changing that person's custody level, it could be restricting visitation."
At the time of the change, Texas had only 75 inmate in solitary confinement for disciplinary violations. That's down from 10,000 inmates in solitary ten years ago.
Clark says as the use of solitary confinement for disciplinary reasons has declined, there has been no corresponding increase in rules violations by prisoners.
Clark says 'administrative segregation' will still be used for other purposes, mainly to protect other inmates and staff from prisoners who are considered dangerous.
"If you have a history of assaulting staff or trying to escape or hurting other offenders," Clark said. "You could end up in administrative segregation. You are removed from general population and you are placed in a cell by yourself."
In the Texas prison system, solitary confinement is not the dark dungeon frequently portrayed in prison movies. It is a high security, one person cell, where the prisoner stays for 22 hours a day. One hour is isolated recreation, and the other hour is reserved for things like showering.