Analysis Of Solitary Confinement

Imagine sitting in a tiny cell for the years at a time slowly but surely losing your mind. This is what many prisoners in the American prison system face today. Solitary confinement is when an inmate is isolated from any human contact, often with the exception of members of prison staff, for 22–24 hours a day, with a sentence ranging from days to decades. This cruel and unusual punishment is used by prisons daily throughout the country. Atul Gawande, a surgeon, public health researcher, and author for The New Yorker writes the article ¨Is Long-Term Solitary Confinement Torture?¨, successfully convincing the reader that solitary confinement is nothing less than unreasonable torture.

Atul Gawande wrote the stories of people who were kept in solitary

His precision and word choice leaves the reader feeling less like the enemy and more included in the movement of change. This is a subtle way to push his point without coming across as negative or hateful. His technique proves exceptionally effective for this topic. Because Gawande is attempting to change his audience’s mind on a widely-accepted punishment, it is crucial to stay on the audience’s good side and avoid reader isolation. Solitary confinement to most Americans isn’t atrocious or even regarded as hazardous to the human mind, therefore it may seem too difficult to try to change any minds on the subject. However, Gawande faces the arduous challenge with grace and

In that case, it can tend to sound more like a list of complaints, which in turn is easier to ignore. Gawande is not oblivious to this notion. Within the article, he provides a reasonable solution to the problem that America’s prison system faces. Gawande says that “the British decided to give their most dangerous prisoners more control, rather than less. They reduced isolation and offered them opportunities for work, education, and special programming to increase social ties and skills.”. He then cites studies done on the ineffectiveness of a solitary style prison system, saying that evidence has shown that supermax conditions make it highly likely that they will commit more crimes when prisoners are released. (Gawande ❡48)

Atul Gawande writes the article, ¨Is Long-Term Solitary Confinement Torture?¨ successfully convincing the reader that solitary confinement is nothing less than unreasonable torture. Gawande writes about men who have survived solitary as POWs and within our own criminal justice system. He uses information in a persuasive way that effectively convinces the reader. By removing solitary confinement and switching to a prison system more focused on rehabilitation, we can make America a better place to