Solitary Confinement Essay

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Solitary Confinement: A Controversial Topic

Solitary confinement is a type of imprisonment where the individual is isolated from other humans for a limited amount of time. Solitary confinement can be seen as “inhumane” and “humiliating” to most. However, there is a clear debate between correctional facilities and academics on whether or not the use of solitary confinement is beneficial or not and whether or not it causes more harm than it does good. Protection and prevention from inmates harming themselves is a benefit of solitary confinement, this is discussed in the article, “Solitary Confinement: The View From Europe” written by Sharon Shalev. The mental and physical damage on the inmate’s brain and well being is a concern …show more content…

Sharon Shalev is a writer that is against the use of solitary confinement. She wrote an article called, ”Solitary Confinement: The View From Europe” that discusses the many negative impacts that solitary confinement has on the prisoners mental health and the prisoners suffer from mental health issues after being exposed to solitary confinement. Solitary confinement is a strong tool that is used in prisons. It is something that raises a lot of concerns and red flags because of how harsh the impacts are on inmates. Solitary confinement is something that can completely corrupt an inmate and cause them a lot of mental damages in the long run, for example many inmates suffer from anxiety and panic attacks when they are let out of solitary confinement. Even healthy inmates suffer from these disorders after being exposed to isolation. This just shows the amount of power that solitary confinement has on these inmates and how damaging and harsh the effects are in the long run if prisoners are in isolation for long periods of time. If inmates are in isolation for too long the effects can be a lot more damaging which is why it is recommended to at least limit their overall time to a minimum. In the article, Shalev discusses the impacts that solitary confinement has on individuals mentally and socially. Solitary confinement has a negative effect on the inmate’s mental health because of the state of shock and trauma they are put in once they are in isolation. Prisoners also suffer socially, once they are taken out of isolation. Prisoners find it hard to adapt back into normal prison life. In the article, it states that, “The ECTHR adding also the potential effect of solitary confinement on social abilities; solitary confinement without appropriate mental and physical stimulation is likely

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