Social Isolation And 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).

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