IN THE CANADIAN PENITENTIARY SERVICE, INMATES ARE ISOLATED FROM THE GENERAL POPULATION FOR ONE OF THREE REASONS: TO PROTECT THEM FROM HARASSMENT BY OTHER INMATES, TO PUNISH THEM FOR SERIOUS OR FLAGRANT DISCIPLINARY OFFENSES, OR TO ENSURE THE ORDERLY OPERATION OF THE INSTITUTION. THE USE OF DISSOCIATION IN CANADA'S FEDERAL PRISONS WAS QUESTIONED IN THE 1973-1974 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE CORRECTIONAL INVESTIGATOR, WHO NOTED A NUMBER OF INMATE COMPLAINTS ABOUT DISSOCIATION. IN RESPONSE TO THE REPORT, THE SOLICITOR GENERAL APPOINTED A STUDY GROUP TO ASSESS THE UTILITY OF DISSOCIATION AS A METHOD OF PUNISHMENT, ITS EFFECTIVENESS AS A MEANS OF PROTECTING INMATES, AND THE LIVING CONDITIONS OF INMATES DISSOCIATED FOR EITHER PUNITIVE OR PROTECTIVE REASONS. THE STUDY GROUP VISITED 13 MEDIUM- AND MAXIMUM-SECURITY INSTITUTIONS THROUGHOUT CANADA, WHERE THEY OBSERVED DISSOCIATION FACILITIES AND PRACTICES AND INTERVIEWED STAFF AND INMATES. THEIR GENERAL FINDINGS, FINDINGS PERTAINING TO EACH OF THE THREE TYPES OF DISSOCIATION, AND RECOMMENDATIONS ARE REPORTED. MAJOR FINDINGS INCLUDE THE ABSENCE OF RECORDS ON DISSOCIATION, THE TENDENCY FOR ALL DISSOCIATED INMATES TO BE TREATED THE SAME REGARDLESS OF THE REASON FOR THEIR DISSOCIATION, AND A RELATED TENDENCY FOR DISSOCIATED INMATES TO BE, IN SOME RESPECTS, FORGOTTEN OR IGNORED. A NUMBER OF CHANGES IN REGULATIONS GOVERNING THE CUSTODY AND TREATMENT OF DISSOCIATED INMATES AS WELL AS THE PROCESS BY WHICH THEY ARE DISSOCIATED ARE PROPOSED. OTHER RECOMMENDATIONS PERTAIN TO THE TRAINING OF STAFF FOR DISSOCIATION AREA DUTY, AND TO THE NEED FOR STUDIES OF THE EFFECTS OF ISOLATION. (LKM)