...Raliat Tijani Solitary Confinement in Prison Essay Is Solitary Confinement the right punishment for inmates in prison? Solitary confinement is the isolation of inmates in a twelve by eight foot cell with no windows for 23 hours or more as a form of punishment. Some people say solitary confinement helps keep the prison safe but medical research say it causes a longer term of mental illness. Even though it's supposed to serve as a form of punishment for violent infractions it is not always used in judicially because as additional punishment they can be denied food, exercise, and showers. Solitary confinement in immoral and does more harm to the inmates than good. First of all, Solitary Confinement is too costly. “The construction of solitary cells alone is more than the average costs of a prison that holds a general inmate population(pg. 100)”. Due to the fact that a regular cell can hold more than two people to a cell and solitary holds only one it become more expensive. When prisoner are taken to solitary the costs grows each time. For the prisons to accommodate the the large amount of prisoners who are taken to solitary they have to make more single cell which cost three times more than the average cell. Secondly, It does more harm than good to the inmates. “A number of prisoners who are placed in isolation have mental illnesses...
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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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...Without social interaction, the brain takes a turn for the worst.When an inmate is put into solitary confinement, a simple punishment can go bad really fast.Yet most prisons in the US use it often when an inmate acts up. Solitary Confinement is ubiquitous in America. The debate on whether or not prisons should be using solitary confinement recently.Although it can be helpful for responding to aggression, solitary confinement should not be used because it drives people crazy, makes people socially awkward, and develops depression When inmates leave solitary confinement/prison,they won't have the social skills to get a job or even have a conversation with friends and family. They would essentially be socially awkward. The article “Hellhole” says,“Human beings are social creatures. We are social not just in the trivial sense that we like...
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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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...Since the 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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...Solitary Confinement is Brutal Solitary Confinement is cruel, but not just cruel it's feeble. Imagine being in a room that is five times smaller than a room. No one to talk to. Yelling and screaming. Hallucination dreams. Imagine being in a room with nothing just a bed, sink, and toilet. Just laying on their bed with a rock they found and throwing it up in the air. Solitary Confinement is the isolation of a prisoner in a separate cell as punishment. There should not be Solitary Confinement allowed in the prison system because people develop personality disorders, prisoners spend up to twenty- two to twenty- four hours in a cell, and it is not needed for the prisoners in the prison system. The first reason solitary confinement should not be allowed in prison system is because prisoners develop personality disorders. The minute prisoners are left alone for a long period of time some visual and auditory hallucinations, insomnia and paranoia, uncontrollable fear and range, increased risk of suicide, and...
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...thousand human beings confined in prison cells with limited access 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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...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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...Cosper English 102 October 3, 2013 Solitary Confinement: Undefined Torture Although solitary confinement was put in place to discipline prisoners, isolation of prisoners caused more dysfunction than rehabilitation. Inmates who never experienced mental illness usually developed that problem while in solitary confinement and thus could not rejoin the general population of prison or had the ability to fully function in society. Solitary confinement would sometimes be in the best interest of the actual prisoner because of the crime that have committed might also get them killed in prison. Inmates were sometimes forced to choose, solitary confinement or fighting for their life because they did not want to get raped. Sometimes non-violent prisoners were placed in administrative segregation because they were waiting to be deported back to their country (Solitary Is Cruel). Solitary confinement emerged from religious reform instituted by the Quakers. The Quakers built the first prison in Philadelphia around 1790 and called it a penitentiary which meant to them to repent for their sins. Quakers believed that solitary confinement was better than the overcrowded and nastily kept prisons in those days. A census taken in 2009 showed there were an estimated 80,000 prisoners in solitary confinement in at least 25,000 were in U.S. super max prisons alone (Solitary Confinement). It has been shown in studies that prisoners who have been in solitary confinement for years develop mental dysfunctions...
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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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...offenders entering the prison system with a mental disorder grew 71% in men and 61% in women (Canadian Mental Health Association, 2012). The problem at hand is that correctional institutes and their staff are not widely trained to deal with inmates who suffer from mental disorders. The result then, is that use-of-force interventions, and placement in solitary confinement, often for extended periods of time, are used as methods of dealing with unruly behaviours exhibited by these mentally ill offenders. While there are various issues surrounding mental health in the Canadian judicial system, for the purpose of this report, the discussion will be focused around inadequate methods for dealing with behaviours presented by these inmates, namely by use-of-force and solitary confinement 1.1 Use-Of-Force Techniques In Sapers 2014 report, it is reported that “28% of all use of force interventions involved an offender with a mental health concern as identified by the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC)” (Ministry of Public Safety, 2014). This is likely due to the fact that mentally ill inmates are more likely to self-harm, have unpredictable behaviour, and have more trouble complying with rules. Further to this, “The use of pepper spray in nearly 60.4% of all use of force incidents reviewed suggests an increasing reliance on security-driven responses to behaviours that are often associated with mental illness” (Ministry of Public Safety, 2014). 1.2 Solitary Confinement Earlier this...
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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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...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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...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 (SC). Under the...
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...In Pelican Bay prison California A prisoner was once 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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