...When correction officials talk about solitary confinement, they describe it as a prison within a prison, and for a good reason. Solitary confinement is a form of imprisonment which isolates an inmate from any human contact. It is often used as a form of punishment for a violation of prison regulations. However, as Dana Liebelson depicts in her article, solitary confinement is detrimental to juvenile inmates. In the article, “This is What Happens When We Lock Children in Solitary Confinement”, by Dana Liebelson, she describes the horrific psychological damage solitary confinement has on youth in correctional facilities. “This is What Happens When We Lock Children in Solitary Confinement” brings to light the negative effects solitary confinement has on youth in juvenile correctional facilities. Liebelson writes about individual cases of children who have experienced isolation in correctional facilities. In each case, juveniles claimed isolation changed them for the worse. They emphasized not only the short term effects it had on their health, mind, and behavior, but also the long term effects that isolation caused as well. In one case, a seventeen year old boy named Kenny...
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...The article describes the effect that short term confinement has on violent prisoners from various prison units in the southern United States. The researcher explores, if exposure to solitary confinement should prevent future punishment within one-year of post exposure and prevent negative future behaviors. The research believes that fear of going back to solitary confinement should deter inmates from future misconduct. The author based research on individual rather than general population. And claim that solitary confinement has a general null effect on subsequent violence behaviors. The research is empirical, and uses rigorous methods. Statistical analysis is defined in detail and includes charts, graphs, and exponential result summations....
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...Solitary Confinement is Cruel and Must Cease Immediately You are in a prison. Isolated from everyone else, in a room, no larger than eighty square feet, with a toilet, sink, a bed, and a small slot for your meals. Do you like it? If not, that is how prisoners feel when placed in solitary confinement; some have been in solitary for a few months, some for a few years. You have never thought about this have you, how convicts feel. Solitary confinement is basically a form of torture but more “humane”; the outcome of this is no joke; the thoughts of suicide, increased, risk of getting viruses, and ultimately, self harm to suicide. The following paragraphs will further inform you about the demonic punishment for prisoners. Solitary confinement is used in prisons as a form of punishment for convicts; evidently, the prisons do not realize that this is harming the inmates’ mind. To start off, the effects that solitary confinement has on the...
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...point of prison, and in more specific, solitary confinement, is rehabilitation it becomes very clear that there is a cost involved in keeping inmates incarcerated, and these costs befall the tax payers. It’s costly enough to house one inmate in a regular prison, but even more so when the inmate is in solitary confinement. With reports by the Bureau of Justice, the prison population is already at nearly a staggering two million. Out of those two million, over eighty-thousand are in solitary and the costs quickly add up (Adkins 210). Furthermore, these figures don’t include criminals in jails or juvenile correction facilities, so the cost is even greater (“Key Statistics: Prisoners”). It’s been reported by NPR, in an article titled...
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...On Solitary Confinement An Exploration Of An Age-Old Method of Punishment Solitary confinement is defined as the isolation of inmates and limiting their human contact in prison. From its birth in the late 1700s to its more widespread usage in recent history, solitary confinement has grown to be a considerable tool in the arsenal of the United States prison system’s methods of controlling its enormous prison population, shown by an increase in the construction of “Supermax” prisons, maximum-security prisons with units specifically designated to isolate inmates. With solitary confinement’s recent uptick in usage throughout the United States on both the federal and state level, questions have arisen about its implementation, its effects on the prison population, and its ethical implications. With it becoming apparent that solitary confinement will continue to play a large role in the United States correction system in the future, it is important to explore the answers to these questions. In this essay, we will explore these questions in order to understand solitary confinement more fully. History Defined fully as, “…confinement of a prisoner alone in a cell for all or nearly all of the day, with minimal environmental stimulation and minimal opportunity for social interaction,” (trauma of psychological torture 113) solitary confinement strives to eliminate the stimulus of senses such as sight, touch, and hearing, with the elimination of stimulus and social interaction...
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...known as Solitary Confinement. Solitary confinement is a form of imprisonment in which an inmate is isolated from any human contact for 23 hours a day. In certain situations, a prisoner can be held in solitary confinement for several days, weeks, and even months. Solitary confinement is immoral and should be illegal in American prison systems because it causes significant mental distress, physical pain, and it violates the eighth amendment of the United States constitution. Human beings are social creatures. Most parents put their children in a learning environment at a very young age to encourage social interaction with peers. Social interaction is vital to the mental wellness of humans at all ages and stages of development. Solitary confinement violates the very nature of the social interaction that is needed for one’s mental health. Numerous studies have shown that roughly a third of solitary inmates were “actively psychotic and/or acutely suicidal” (Dvorsky 8). This type of punishment does not support mental health, which is critical for rehabilitation. Inmates who experience psychological trauma are less likely to recover, “without human contact, inside a cell that is approximately 80...
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...Solitary confinement is an incarceration norm in the United States and around the world, as prisoners are locked away and left to their own devices for days on end. Though this practice has mostly been commonplace and a part of the American criminal justice ethic for the better part of three centuries, some have questioned whether this is the future of criminal justice in America. Solitary confinement, it seems, has psychological effects that have previously been unknown and given this information, some argue that the practice is inhumane or in violation of the sixth amendment’s prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment. Solitary confinement breaks down the mind’s ability to function and in the process, it does long-term, often irreparable damage to prisoners. Those prisoners, many of whom are later released at the end of their sentence, are afflicted with a new mental disability as a result of their time in solitary confinement. This can have dangerous effects on communities and it can lead to higher rates of recidivism among these prisoners. Given the accumulated knowledge that the scientific community now has on the long-term effects of solitary confinement, it is clear that this practice raises ethical and practical questions. It will, in the next ten to twenty years, force various states and the federal government to choose whether they want to continue with an inhumane practice that could leave communities with a new danger that has been wholly caused by incarceration...
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...rights, they should still get the equal treatment like everyone else. A solitary confinement cell is the size of a handicap bathroom and they only get to leave a few times a week for a short amount of time to either shower or workout. Solitary confinement can cause prisoners to develop severe mental issue from being isolated from society. There has been many cases of people suffering for mental issues caused by solitary confinement. Solitary confinement can cause prisoners to act very violently, even more than what they are. Solitary confinement can also cause prisoners to have suicidal thoughts. Solitary confinement is the isolation of a prisoner in a separate cell as a punishment. Solitary confinement was made to be a harsh treatment for prisoners. Lawyers have disapproved it and call it a cruel punishment that has been banned by the Eighth Amendment. Prisoners would be held in there for twenty-two to...
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...on the Effects of Prisoners in Long-term Solitary Confinement Mary Blanchard Argosy University Abstract This literature review examines the effects of short and long-term solitary confinement on individuals, especially those segregated in prisons and so-called "Supermax" facilities. The hypothesis is that while short-term confinement does not appear to cause serious harm, long-term confinement is detrimental to prisoners, particularly to those who are mentally ill. The evidence concludes there is a correlation between long-term isolation and psychological and physiological problems. The articles cover the history of solitary confinement, the wax, and wane of the practice, life in Special Housing Units, the constitutionality, and recidivism. Additionally, there are suggestions for improving confinement when it is necessary, as well as reducing the use as much as possible by limiting it to the "worst-of-the-worst" offenders. keywords: solitary confinement, "Supermax", Special Housing Units, mentally ill, recidivism, "worst-of-the-worst" No Man Should be an Island: A Literature Review on the Effects of Prisoners in Long-term Solitary Confinement Inroduction From the Iron Maiden and the Rack to Waterboarding and Sensory Deprivation, thoughts of these practices can make the most stoic person shudder. What many do not imagine is that the most harmful form of torture is also the simplest to apply. This "corrective measure" still in use today is solitary confinement...
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...When speaking about solitary confinement, it is called by many different names such as the hotbox, the hole, lockdown, SC and the SHU. The practice of solitary confinement is used when an inmate is considered dangerous to themselves or others. It is where prisoners spend 23 hours of a day alone in their cell in separation from anyone and have no contact, though often with the exception of members of prison staff. This is sometimes having been called as a form of punishment which is beyond incarceration for a prisoner and has been named as an additional measure of protection for the inmate. This form of punishment is also given to anyone that violations the prison regulations. It is also used as a form of protective custody and to prevent in...
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...to their freedom and gaining illnesses. Should we still continue the basic torture named solitary confinement within our prisons? Many believe it is necessary for solitary confinement to be practiced in prisons; to keep inmates and facility members safe. Solitary confinement should be removed from all American prisons so it won’t cause for issues with inmates. Solitary confinement can be described as legal torture, according to Amendment eight it can fall into a cruel and unusual punishments of civilians. It causes negative effects of the prison community and the outside community that we live in. Those inmates that lived in solitary confinement have become more dangerous to their lives and others. Adding on to being dangerous they also gain...
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...Solitary confinement has been around for centuries, which may have started in the early 1800s. The purpose of solitary confinement is to segregate individuals who have committed horrendous crimes, put other inmates lives in danger, and possibly breaking a rule while being incarcerated. Solitary confinement isolates inmates in small units, inmates are usually isolated for 23 hours a day, ranging from weeks, months, and years. Inmates serving time in solitary confinement for long periods of time either change and better themselves others become mentally break down. Solitary confinement is cruel and ineffective, because harming individuals mentally is inhumane, there needs to be reforms, not to mention these isolated units increase the taxpayers...
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...dumped in scalding water so his skin would peel off, other prisoners were sent outside naked in the rain.In Corcoran prison, California guards held their own Roman gladiator games with prisoners against each other much like today's correctional officers in the infamous Rikers Island correctional facility forcing inmates to fight one another. Although these old forms of prisoner abuse have almost all been put out of use, one, however, has prevailed and is still used to this day.This cruel and unusual punishment is solitary confinement. Inmates have been sentenced to solitary for infractions such as refusing to cut their hair for religious reasons or eating an apple incorrectly, which shows how broadly the offenses officially punishable with solitary confinement can be interpreted.The effects of solitary confinement include and are not limited to Nervousness, anxiety, insomnia, Nightmares, Violent thoughts, and Heightened anger. According to the United Nations, the confinement SHU (typically, in cells of under 8 x 10 feet or 2.4 x 3 meters) for over 15 days is to be considered torture. Victims...
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...Journal for Critical Animal Studies, Volume 10, Issue 2, 2012 (ISSN1948-352X) Beyond Dehumanization: A Post-Humanist Critique of Solitary Confinement Lisa Guenther Abstract What does it mean to be treated like a nonhuman animal? In this paper, I analyze the discourse of “dehumanization” in Madrid v Gomez, a 1995 Eighth Amendment case concerning the treatment of prisoners at California’s Pelican Bay Supermax Penitentiary. I argue that the language of dehumanization fails to describe the harm of solitary confinement because it remains complicit with a hierarchical opposition between human and nonhuman animal that rebounds against prisoners, especially those who have been racialized and/or sexualized as less than human. Humanist discourse neglects the sense in which both human and nonhuman animals are affective, corporeal beings who rely upon the support of others for their own capacity to orient themselves within a mutually-perceived world. Drawing on the testimony of inmates in solitary confinement, and situating this testimony in relation to the political and scientific history of US incarceration practices, I develop a post-humanist critique of solitary confinement. Keywords: Solitary confinement, sensory deprivation, intercorporeal Malebranche would not have beaten a stone as he beat his dog, saying that the dog didn’t suffer. Merleau-Ponty, Nature, 166 Certain carceral practices are often condemned – both by prisoners and by their legal or political advocates –...
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...In the beginning of the story, the reader learns that the narrator suffers from “nervous depression.” This type of mental illness is incredibly dangerous when left untreated. The narrator’s only source of attempted treatment is from her husband, John, who is a physician. He tells her that she is to stay home all day and that she must not have a lot of contact with the outside world. The narrator’s only other interactions are with her sister-in-law, Jennie. One side-effect of nervous depression is severe excitement over small occurrences. By the end of the story, the narrator is absolutely sure that she can see a woman protruding through the wall. This causes her to become even more excited, and with no one she trusts to tell of what she thinks...
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