Some Inmates Still Deserve Solitary Confinement By Greg Dobbs

Solitary confinement has been a controversial topic for many years now. People do not merely argue if they are pro or con, they question the short and long-term effects, look for alternatives, or try to banish it from the United States entirely.

Margo Schlanger, who is a Professor of Law at the University of Michigan, and Amy Fettig, who is the Director of the ACLU National Prison Project, in their American Prospect publication, Eight Principles for Reforming Solitary Confinement, introduce a number of reform ideas regarding solitary confinement. First, prisoners should never be subjected to solitary confinement for a long period of time unless there is an evident threat regarding the safety and security of the prison. As stated before, many juveniles who committed suicide under confinement, were initially confined for committing nonthreatening behavior (Jessica Lee, 2016). Also, prisoners should be subjected to solitary confinement for the slightest time possible. It is already proven that long term solitary confinement has significant damaging results on an inmate’s psyche, and therefore inmates should be subjected to confinement for the least amount of time.

The United States of America began experimenting with solitary confinement more than 200 years ago. It is said that the pioneers of solitary confinement were activist reformers who believed that silence and solitude would induce repentance and motivate prisoners to live a devout socially responsible life. With 2.3 million people in prisons and jails, the United States incarcerates people more than any other nation. From 1995

There have been various studies conducted over the past few decades that show the devastating consequences of the use of solitary confinement in prisons. Studies show that the method of solitary confinement has the potential to lead to severe psychological effects on prison inmates. To address the consequences of solitary confinement in the U.S. federal prison system, President Obama directed Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch as well as the Justice Department to review and analyze the overuse of solitary confinement in U.S. prisons. Six months later, on January 25th, 2016, President Obama officially announced that he is adapting the recommendations proposed by the Attorney General and the Justice Department to reform the federal prison system.

Many researchers have found that long periods of time in solitary confinement can have negative mental effects on inmates. This is due to long-term confinement because it consists of not only prolonged deprivation of social interaction but also sensory deprivation (Haney, 2003). Medical ethics are also in question about the effects of long term confinement. Medical professionals have to handle a particularly difficult situation because they are required to provide medical assistance to these inmates that may be facing psychological issues. This is a problem because medical professionals are aware that solitary confinement has negative effects on the well-being and mental state of these individuals (Shalev, 2011).

Solitary confinement for juveniles has been a common problem for several years. Growing up in solitary confinement as a juvenile, prison life is the only life they will know. They will not know how to act in the real world. They will get sent right back to jail over and over again. The kids adapt to the prison lifestyle. They will start to lose their mind in jail if they are in there too long. Solitary confinement should be banned for juveniles because it has the potential to negatively impact one’s mind, which can be detrimental on the brain, which is not yet fully developed.

Over the last couple of decades, prison systems have adopted the use of solitary confinement as a means of punishment and have progressively depended on it to help maintain obedience and discipline inside the prison structure. Solitary confinement is a form of incarceration in which a prisoner is isolated in a cell for multiple hours, days, or weeks with limited to no human contact. According to the American Civil Liberties Union, the United States represents only 5% of the world's population yet houses 20% of the world’s prisoners (ACLU). Two of the biggest problems with our modern day criminal justice system is the overwhelming number of people that are incarcerated in the United States and the overwhelming number of convicts who return

Solitary confinement has had a long history in the American prison system. America is the first country to adapt solitary confinement into the prison regiment. Pennsylvania had the first special housing units for inmates or “SHU”. When Europeans came to America to look at the new model for prisons in Pennsylvania they wrote reports describing to the European parliament on how prisoners were treated like caged animals. Many of them quickly realized that this was not what prisons were set out to accomplish. The purpose of a prison is to rehabilitate criminals and bring them back into society as an individual that has the best mental tools and skills to make their respective communities better. Putting inmates in solitary confinement for more than 48 hours can only lead to awful emotional pain and mental problems which can result in self-destructive behavior to regain the self-control that is being deprived through this process of isolation and expulsion.

Imagine looking to the left and seeing white. Looking to the right, seeing white. Looking up, seeing more white. Looking to the back and seeing the same white. For prisoners that have been redirected to solitary confinement, that is all they see for 23 hours a day. All that fills their prison cell is a silver metal toilet, metal sink, a bed, and a bible. They are expected to make use of their day by reading the bible and rehabilitating for their “punishment,” but how can anyone properly function in a 6-by-9-by-12-foot cell. Solitary confinement is best described as a form of punishment when the prisoner is placed in a cell isolated from any other prisoners. The history of this practiced has dated back to the 1980’s where prisoners were often

While solitary confinement is one of the most effective ways of keeping todays prisoners from conflict and communication, it is also the most detrimental to their health. According to NPR the reason for most solitary confinement units in America “is to control the prison gangs (NPR, 2011).” But that is not always the case. Sometimes putting a gang member in solitary reduces the shock and awe effect that it is supposed to have, when they start losing their minds. The prisoners kept in solitary confinement show more psychotic symptoms than that of a normal prisoner, including a higher suicide rate. Once a prisoner’s mental capacity to understand why he is in prison and why he is being punished is gone, there is no reason to keep said

For years the controversy over whether solitary confinement is considered torture or not have been a big issue. Solitary confinement is when prisoners are locked in a room with usually no windows, no bigger than a parking space, denied showers, phone calls, visitations and clean clothing (Washington Post). More than 80,000 men, women, and children are in solitary not including jails, juvenile facilities and immigrant detention centers (AFSC). Obama was the very first president to visit a federal prison and has come out and phased the question, “we really think it makes sense to lock so many people alone in a tiny cell for 23 hours a day, sometimes for months or even years at a time” (Goode). Many people go into solitary for multiple reasons.

An initial observation of the research on solitary confinement in the United States reveals that what is currently known about this practice is centered around how adults experience prolonged isolation, how adults react to solitary confinement as a form of discipline, “protection,” “treatment,” safety or security, and not how children and teenagers under the age of 18 years old experience this form of isolation. This Macro Project focuses first on identifying how children experience this extreme form of segregation and why it is a serious concern for this population. The reminder of this report concentrates on reviewing what evidence-based practices (EBP’s) and interventions exist for this population in an effort to curb and eliminate the use of solitary confinement. Next I recommend which

It was in a brainstorming situation that I discovered the topic of discussion I wanted to hear a convincing opposition against. I knew that choosing something more controversial would garner a greater opposition, but at the same time, I wanted to avoid topics that seemed almost too commonplace in assignments like this. With that in mind, I decided to hear out the opposition against my view of the inhumanity of solitary confinement. The person with whom I discussed, who will be referred to as Person X for the purposes of this write-up, believed that in certain situations, solitary confinement was a just punishment. We had this discussion waiting for our Microbiology class to begin. Bringing up random topics of discussion is not something unusual within the scope of my character, and so rather than wait for an opportunity that would not present itself, I simply asked Person X for his/her opinion on solitary confinement as a justified punishment for convicted criminals. To give the discussion some direction and so that I could better understand Person X’s point of view I asked some questions. The two most important I found being: “Why do you feel that it’s okay to punish people like that in some cases but not in others?” and “How long is too long?”. I found these questions particularly helpful in understanding Person X’s position because I noticed that he/she didn’t completely agree with either one side. He/she was intent on making a point based on conditionality. Although I

This paper will include a review of different prison systems that have occurred in America, and how the Pennsylvania and New York or Auburn model have helped facilitate the use of solitary confinement. To establish the negative effects solitary confinement has on humans, this paper will provide reasons it is used, how it is used, and review conditions of solitary confinement. It is widely used for purpose of punishment within prison systems and has developed into large super maximum facilities to hold the more dangerous inmates incarcerated. Through many case studies solitary confinement has resulted in detrimental

The manner in which prison wardens use isolation in modern-day American prisons is the topic of much controversy and discussion among proponents of prison reform. In Jimmy Santiago Baca’s book, A Place to Stand, isolation plays an integral part in his development as a writer and as a person. Briefly, isolation seems to affect him in