Solitary Confinement Is Cruel and Ineffective

1069 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: history of the penitentiary system

The first time I remember being put in time out was when I was five years old. I can remember feeling scared, lonely and infuriated, all at the same time. My time outs were only for a short time, but they felt like a life time. Now can you imagine being in a time out for a week, months, or even years? This is a tactic used by the prison system to punish bad behavior. Solitary confinement is being locked in a cell where you can see out, for 23 hours a day with no human interaction. How long can the human mind be left alone? Many people think this is a way of humanly punishing deadly behavior, but science is proving otherwise. Humans are not meant to be alone. We are social creatures. Can this form of punishment do more harm than good?

Solitary confinement or isolation can be given to many people, for many reasons. Anywhere from causing bodily harm to another person, to being very disruptive, but this is not always the case. Rapper Lil Wayne got solitary confinement for stashing headphones and an mp3 player in his cell. Many people think that only violent, horrible people get that punishment, but it’s just not true, many of them are innocuous things. An unnamed man I interviewed spent 3 years in a NYS prison. He spent 3 months in solitary confinement for something he didn’t do. He was being escorted by two correction officers, when one of them made an impertinent comment, he (the prisoner) said “his lawyer would like to hear that remark”, (Unknown named male) and was slammed into the wall. He still has the ghastly scare today. The next day he was told he was being taken to solitary confinement for hitting an officer. Something he didn’t do. Not everyone in solitary confinement deserves to be there. This form of punishment gi...

... middle of paper ...

...ng and people taking a stand we will take back our rights as human beings.

Work cited

DR. Metzner, Jeffery. Solitary Confinement and Mental Illness in U.S. Prisons: A Challenge for Medical Ethics 2010 http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2010/03/22/solitary-confinement-and- mental-illness-us-prisons

Dr. Grassian, Stuart PSYCHIATRIC EFFECTS OF SOLITARY CONFINEMENT 1993 http://www.prisoncommission.org/statements/grassian_stuart_long.pdf

Godoy, Maria. Q&A: Solitary Confinement & Human Rights. 2011 http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5586937

Lenzer, Emily Solitary Confinement: How Effective Is It? 2006 http://www.npr.org/about/press/060725.solitary.html

Smith, Alexandra Torture At Home: Documentary On Solitary Confinement in U.S. Prisons Misses the Mark 2010 http://www.alternet.org/rights/146497/torture nement_in_u.s._prisons_misses_the_mark

Show More
Related

  • Research Paper On Solitary Confinement

    1033 Words  | 3 Pages

    Yet, solitary confinement is still considered necessary in order to maintain control within the prison and among inmates. Solitary confinement is seen as an effective method in protecting specific prisoners and altering violent/aggressive disobedient behaviors, (Maria A. Luise, Solitary Confinement: Legal and Psychological Considerations, 15 New Eng. J. on Crim. & Civ. Confinement 301, 324 (1989) p. 301). There is some discrepancy among researchers as to the varying effects on inmates who have undergone an extensive solitary confinement stay. Most researchers find that inmates who had no previous form of mental illness suffer far less than those who do, yet most if not all of these individuals still experience some difficulties with concentration and memory, agitation, irritability, and will have issues tolerating external stimuli, (Stuart Grassian, Psychiatric Effects of Solitary Confinement, 22 Wash. U. J. L. & Pol’y 325 (2006) p. 332). Although these detrimental psychiatric repercussions of solitary confinement currently appear, several researches have made suggestions as to how these may be avoided. These requirements being that

    Read More

  • Solitary Confinement: A Cruel and Unusual Punishment

    855 Words  | 2 Pages

    Many people have tried to stop the use of solitary confinement by calling it “Cruel and Unusual Punishment. (Holt vs. Sarver, 1969).” People also say that it is a direct violation of our eighth amendment rights. The definition of cruel and unusual punishment is as follows: “Such punishment as would amount to torture or barbarity, any cruel and degrading punishment not known to the Common Law, or any fine, penalty, confinement, or treatment that is so disproportionate to the offense as to shock the moral sense of the community. (Farflex Inc., 2011).” Studies show that solitary confinement can alter the mental state of a prisoner so far that it is detrimental to his or her health; I see no reason why this cannot be classified as cruel and unusual punishment. In an experiment conducted by the BBC’s Horizon group, they studied the effects ...

    Read More

  • The Pros And Cons Of Solitary Confinement In Prisons

    1530 Words  | 4 Pages

    Solitary Confinement is a type of isolation in prison which a prisoner is segregated from the general population of the prison and any human contact besides the prison employees. These prisons are separated from the general population to protect others and themselves from hurting anyone in the prison. These prisoners are deprived of social interaction, treatments, psychologist, family visits, education, job training, work, religious programming and many other services prisoners might need during the sentence of their imprisonment. There are roughly 80,000 prisoners in solitary confinement but 25,000 are in long term and supermax prisons. According to the Constitution, “The Eighth Amendment [...] prohibits the federal government from imposing excessive bail, excessive fines, or cruel and unusual punishment”(US Const. amend. VIII). Solitary confinement is suppose to be the last straw for inmates to be in. If they don 't follow it, they can be on death row. Taxpayers pay roughly $75,000 to $85,000 to keep prisoners in solitary confinement. That is 3 times higher than the normal prisons that taxpayers pay for them to be in prison. Solitary confinement was established in 1829 in Philadelphia for experimentation because officials believed it was a way for

    Read More

  • Capital Punishment Is Not Only Unusual, But Cruel

    978 Words  | 2 Pages

    to kill another human being who breaks the law? Why don't we just use life

    Read More

  • The Prison System: Solitary Confinement

    1476 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • The Harmful Effects Of Long Harm Segregation In Prisons

    1018 Words  | 3 Pages

    The negative effects of the long-term use of solitary confinement in prisons has been under the spot light for years, and has been considered to be broken. The maltreatment of prisoners is a constant

    Read More

  • Solitary Confinement and the Effects on Inmates

    2039 Words  | 5 Pages

    Solitary confinement is a mandated arrangement set up by courts or prisons which seek to punish inmates by the use of isolated confinement. Specifically, solitary confinement can be defined as confinement in which inmates that are held in a single cell for up to twenty-three hours a day without any contact with the exception of prison staff (Shalev, 2011). There are several other terms which refer to solitary confinement such as, administrative segregation, supermax facilities (this is due to the fact that supermax facilities only have solitary confinement), the hotbox, the hole, and the security housing unit (SHU). Solitary confinement is a place where most inmates would prefer not to go. There are many reasons for this.

    Read More

  • Essay On Administrative Segregation

    1149 Words  | 3 Pages

    Many have been imprisoned, then subject to the horrors of torture known as solitary confinement or administrative segregation (AS) in the Canadian prison system. No matter the crime, it is a harsh punishment to inflict on any human being. The practice typically involves confining a prisoner to a single cell 23 hours daily with no meaningful human contact. Administrative segregation can last for months to years at a time. It is non-rehabilitative as it has negative effects on human beings causing symptoms of depression and self-harm, cognitive disturbances, and psychosis. Additionally, inmates in AS are more likely than the general population to commit suicide. Punishment through administrative segregation is paradoxical to the Canadian prison

    Read More

  • Inhumanity of Solitary Confinement in America

    769 Words  | 2 Pages

    Solitary confinement is a cruel punishment, it doesn 't serve the role of prisons and it may eventually end up endangering the general public. Although some may argue that it is safe for prisoners, the cons outweigh the pros. It is important to think for ourselves what is justifiable and what isn 't. Do you want to be a person who defends the use of torture in America 's prisons, or will you see the truth about solitary confinement and decide to take a

    Read More

  • Effects Of Solitary Confinement

    1482 Words  | 3 Pages

    Supporters of solitary confinement believe that Inmates that propose extreme dangers to prison staff and other inmates must be removed and placed in solitary condiment for their protection and sometimes the inmate themselves. Therefore, many would argue that when left alone in solitary confinement, it allows inmates to engage in self-reflection. Furthermore, many supporters of Solitary believe that disciplinary segregation is needed and has proven to keep stability in correctional institutions. Solitary confinement does solve the issue of physical violence and allows for personal reflection. While this argument is popular, solitary confinement causes extreme psychological consequences on inmates. When placed in solitary confinement inmates begin to lose sight to what real and mentally brake down over time. While held in solitary confinement for long periods of time prisoners experience hallucinations, extreme anxiety, amnesia, and violent impulse behavior. In 1997, a study done by the Human Rights Watch shows that 5% of the overall prison population in America has suffered some kind of psychotic illness due to extreme isolation. While Solitary confinement might try to bring down aggressive behavior, studies show that it actually causes greater

    Read More

  • Persuasive Essay On Mass Incarceration

    1168 Words  | 3 Pages

    The past two decades have engendered a very serious and historic shift in the utilization of confinement within the United States. In 1980, there were less than five hundred thousand people confined in the nation’s prisons and jails. Today we have approximately two million and the numbers are still elevating. We are spending over thirty five billion annually on corrections while many other regime accommodations for education, health

    Read More

  • The Negative Effects Of Solitary Prisonation In Prisons

    1427 Words  | 3 Pages

    If an inmate continues to be violent, the result is a longer time in solitary confinement. Solitary confinement is inhumane and should be called torture. Putting and keeping an individual in solitary confinement puts them at a very serious risk of developing a mental illness, which may not be recoverable. Solitary confinement causes many effects that range in severity; it is not something that inmates should be subjected to, though. Inmates/offenders entering the prison system need to be screened for mental health and substance abuse disorders.

    Read More

  • Solitary Confinement Essay

    2046 Words  | 5 Pages

    They can exercise in fenced in yards surrounded by concrete. Solitary confinement is either used as a punishment for prison behaviors, a protection method for targeted inmates, or a place to keep prisoners who are a threat to the general prison population. Many prisoners are put in Administrative Segregation for their

    Read More

  • Banishing Solitary Confinement Analysis

    1316 Words  | 3 Pages

    675). In fact, “an estimated 80,000 inmates are kept in solitary confinement in the United States” (Castillo, 2015, pp. 1273-1274). After Browder was arrested and sent to Rikers, “while waiting for a trail that never happened, Browder spent nearly two years in solitary confinement” (Puckett, 2016, pp. 66). Solitary Confinement is used in most prison facilities such as Rikers in an attempted to protect inmates from other inmates when in an uncontrollable fight occur, to prevent inmates from harming themselves or others and to punish inmates when correctional rules has been violated. Some of these violations include getting in to petty altercations with a correctional officer or other staff

    Read More

  • Imprisonment is Ineffective as Punishment

    1773 Words  | 4 Pages

    Foucault, M. (1995) Discipline and Punishment The Birth of the Prison [online]. 2nd ed. USA: Penguin Books, Ltd. [Accessed 01 January 2014].

    Read More

More about Solitary Confinement Is Cruel and Ineffective

Open Document