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Theories outling solitary confinement
Theories outling solitary confinement
Factor affecting social isolation
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Introduction
Isolation is defined as the state of being separated from other people, or a situation in which you do not have the support of other people (Macmillan Dictionary 2014). The purpose of this study is to determine how isolation can affect or change a person. The research for this investigation will focus on the importance of social interaction, the effects of social isolation and isolation as a correctional method. It will provide information backed by extensive research to discover is solitary confinement is an effective method of controlling criminal behaviour and if isolation can eventually drive a person towards insanity.
Social interaction is a vital part of everyday life for a majority of people. Everyday people of all ages, races and genders communicate and interact with each other; it has become such a common theme in society that it is taken for granted just how vital social interaction is for humans. Without social interaction humans can have serious physical and mental effects.
Physical effects caused by Isolation
Social interaction is an essential part of everyday life, social support can help to aid in recovery from diseases and if a person is isolated for a sustained period of time it may soon start to result in negative physical effects. Isolation in an environment with a lack of mental stimulus can also be very harmful as many criminals in solitary confinement have physical effects caused by the isolation in solitary confinement.
A study from a psychologist tested 40 women aged between 40 and 80 years of age with chronic vertebral disorders. The study showed that social interactions such a holidays, socializing with friends or even simply visiting the theatre affec...
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...quarter-century’s worth of suffering has been that bad.” (Blake, 2012)
Maureen O’Keefe, a researcher from the Colorado Department of Corrections, discovered that in Colorado alone 35% of the prisoners in isolation had a serious mental illness before being placed in isolation (Weir, 2012). Instead of providing medical treatment for these people they are placed in solitary confinement, where they are locked in a cell for 23 hours a day and so they’re not given reasonable medical treatment for their conditions. The number of people with mental illnesses being placed in isolation in the US is such a level where it is becoming the mental health system rather than the correctional system. This is supported by the fact that U.S prisons hold more than three times as more prisoners with mental illnesses than mental health institutions in the U.S (Human Rights Watch, 2009).
Today, prisons are the nation’s primary providers of mental health care, and some do a better job than others. Pete Earley focuses his research on the justice system in Miami, Florida. He documents how the city’s largest prison has only one goal for their mentally ill prisoners: that they do not kill themselves. The prison has no specialized
“Loneliness is a destroyer of humanity” and “The agony of solitary confinement is like being buried alive”, are only some of the thoughts of inmates placed in solitary confinement. In his article “Hellhole”, Gawande elaborates the disastrous consequences that arose from solitary confinement. Gawande begins his article by stating, “Human beings are social creatures” (1), and to exist in society as a functioning human being, social interaction is fundamental. He further states, “Our identities are socially created” (8), therefore, it is through the relationships that
The American Psychological Association website uses this for its strengths, it is used to fill the general population that uses this website with insight, while also allowing their reasoning to show through, and persuade their audience to do something more. In this account, though, the author strategically targeted psychology professionals and future psychology professionals. This made the explanation of the text, to do further research on the subject of supermax prisons and social isolation, clearly understood. If targeting an audience who did not believe social isolation was a prevalent issue, the whole persuasion of the article would be lost, and the reader would leave missing some sort of context, wondering what the article’s purpose was.
Since the early 1800s, the United States has relied on a method of punishment barely known to any other country, solitary confinement (Cole). Despite this method once being thought of as the breakthrough in the prison system, history has proved differently. Solitary confinement was once used in a short period of time to fix a prisoners behavior, but is now used as a long term method that shows to prove absolutely nothing. Spending 22-24 hours a day in a small room containing practically nothing has proved to fix nothing in a person except further insanity. One cannot rid himself of insanity in a room that causes them to go insane. Solitary confinement is a flawed and unnecessary method of punishment that should be prohibited in the prison system.
Isolation is a state of being separation between persons or group, or a feeling being alone. There are different factors that contribute to someone feeling alone and isolated. An example of this would be when celebrities go into deep depression because they feel isolated from the whole world. They have all the material things they could ever want, but the one thing they want the most, they do not have. , which is happiness, which comes from satisfaction within oneself and being satisfied with what one has done in one's life. Feeling isolated does not necessarily mean a person is bad. Evidence in Shakespeare play Macbeth , demonstrates this quite clearly that MacBeth's isolation comes from guilt , over-ambition and greed.
Solitary confinement borders cruel and unusual punishment due to its association to extreme mental illnesses of its prisoners. Studies have shown healthy people obtaining mental illnesses after being confined for a short period of time. For most people this association, as well as its high cost to maintain the use of solitary confinement, is enough to stop the use of this style of incarseration and closing strictly solitary prisons. Others believe that restoring rehabilitating activities and medical attention for prisoners is more preferable than closing the prisons, because the prison is the prime employer of the small towns they were built in.
Imagine. You are alone with your thoughts. There is nothing that can separate you from their unpredictable horrors because you spend 23 hours a day completely alone. In silence you wait, desperate for a chance to leave the four-walled, concrete cell you now call home. These are the conditions of solitary confinement that are still in widespread use throughout America today. Although solitary confinement may seem like the safest way to protect other prisoners, guards and even the inmate himself, it is an inhumane and cruel punishment and it has the opposite effect of what prisons are intended for. .
The effects of prolonged isolation for inmates in confinement cells are obsessive-compulsive tendencies, paranoia, anger-management issues, and severe anxiety (Sifferlin, Alexandra). Along with the basic concepts such as food, water, and shelter, there are two other basics that Dr. Terry Kupers states are required for human wellbeing: “social interaction and meaningful activity. By doing things we learn who we are and we learn our worth as a person. The two things solitary confinement does are make people solitary and idle” (Sifferlin, Alexandra). Isolation and confinement remove prisoners’ ability to perform significant tasks and act as a part of society. This dehumanizes the inmates because they are no longer able to understand their role as a human being. One inmate, Jeanne DiMola, spent a year in solitary confinement and expressed her thoughts while in the cell: “I felt sorry I was born … Most of all I felt sorry that there wasn 't a road to kill myself because every day was worse than the last" (Rodhan, Maya). In DiMola’s opinion, a death penalty more than likely would have felt more humane than the isolation she experienced. Another prisoner, Damon Thibodeaux, stated, “Life in solitary is made all the worse because it 's a hopeless existence … It is torture
Therefore, in the bigger picture, the social construction of this widespread stigma, that criminals are not real people, has lead to the keepings of solitary confinement within the prison system. This then forces these prisoners within the American prison system to go through these psychiatric syndromes, suicidal thoughts, and overall, a more dangerous and a more unbearable life. Many may think it is not as bad as it seems, but the exact opposite. Solitary confinement can and will have extremely detrimental psychological and social effects on any human being, no matter who you are.
Thousands of people statewide are in prisons, all for different reasons. However, the amount of mental illness within prisons seems to go unaddressed and ignored throughout the country. This is a serious problem, and the therapy/rehabilitation that prison systems have do not always help those who are mentally ill. Prison involvement itself can contribute to increased suicide (Hills, Holly). One ‘therapy’ that has increased throughout the years has been the use of solitary confinement, which has many negative effects on the inmates.
Have you ever wondered what happens if you don't have any friends? These two articles, "What are friends for? A longer life" and "How social Isolation is Killing Us" tells you why. The first article talks about examples on many different people having no friends and their side effects an example from the Isolation article is saying that getting a pet can cure your loneliness and depression. The second article talks about ways to not feel lonely like for example getting a pet. An example from the friend's article is stating that there is a woman that would rather be with her friends than her family.
As BBC concluded in their study “How extreme Isolation Warps the Mind” isolation has shown to cause many lousy effects. After spending nearly 10,000 hours with little human contact in a jail cell Sarah Shourd started to do things
Isolation is defined as the state of being in a place or position that is separated from people, place or things. Many people identify with a desire to be isolated, despite science saying that people’s natural instinct is to gravitate toward others. Studies have shown that isolation is not good psychologically. Isolation can be voluntary or involuntary; however, whether it is with a human or an animal species, physical touch, communication, and emotional connection is necessary to survive in everyday life. In a number of literary works, isolation is seen as a theme among characters who are sick, mentally ill and those who are incarcerated to name a few. In the literary works we have read in this unit, the isolation of the protagonist, whether voluntary or
How much can technology impact your social life? Who would of thought that technology would affect life in such a major way? Little did people know that technology can impact the way humans interact with each other. While listening to music and playing games on their mobile devices, how many people actually get to know one another while standing right next to each other? A small ride on a metro or bus ride will show you just how little interaction goes on in a humans life do to the amount of use on their mobile devices. The role technology plays in socializing has a great impact on people’s interaction. People can be standing right next to each other with out saying one word to one another. While waiting for the next class to start or even during the class, people tune out the rest of the world and this can lead up to social isolation. Technology has had a bad impact on the way humans socialize because it causes people to be less interactive. Social isolation is a health condition that can become very severe and lead up to depression, anxiety, despair and many other things. Social isolation can be avoided if technology is limited to use at only appropriate times as when bored, alone or incase of an emergency you would use cell phones.
Social interactions are the manner in which we socialize and react to other people. Social interaction has been around humanity since the beginning. It is so important that without it, settlements and groups wouldn’t have formed the way we know it today. It is the building block of society, people get together and design rules, institution and select officials to guide their way of living. It means interaction is social relationship among the individuals. It is a sort of action and reaction position among the people. It involves the acts that people do to others and the return the expect. Social interaction consists of many concepts which are: Exchange, competition, cooperation, conflict and coercion.