supermax prisons, large-scale implementations of secure housing units, employ solitary confinement to isolate predatory, disorderly inmates from the rest of the prison community. federal bureau of prisons create special supermax facilities to contain the most aggressive inmates in a protective effort. kate king, professor and director of criminal justice at murray state university, benjamin steiner, professor of criminal justice at the university of cincinnati, and stephanie ritchie breach, director of the third district youth court, explain how while violence has always been a factor in prison life, the level of aggression is magnified in facilities where all such members of the prison system are concentrated. these scholars argue that the violent nature of supermax prisons such as pelican bay state prison are perpetrated by prison culture itself. king, steiner, and breach question the effectiveness of these institutions and claim the violent reputation of american prisons stems from this departure from the treatment model. supermax prisons are also scrutinized on legal and ethical bases. scholars jesenia pizarro and vanja stenius note that the overall constitutionality of these prisons are still quite unclear. many argue the conditions in which these inmates live do not meet the standards of the eighth amendment to the united states constitution.