 Specifically, some women are thought to request solitary confinement to avoid “further assaults on their identity” that might arise from their interactions and experiences in prison.Studies have found that women who have been in voluntary administrative segregation tend to have high personal or emotional needs, and some have struggled with substance abuse, although few have difficulty with “community functioning.”

Women prisoners who are deemed to be dangerous to other prisoners are sometimes put into administrative segregation; a prisoner can also be put in segregation if the officers determine that she herself is in danger and needs this protection.Like women who are voluntarily put into segregation, these women tend to have high personal and emotional needs, but many of them also have difficulties functioning in the community or associating with other people.