Solitary Confinement Units

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Recommended: solitary confinement among prisoners

The Pennsylvania system constructed in the early 1800s inspired solitary confinement by using extreme isolation to deter future crime. In the twentieth century, inmates in solitary confinement would stay for short periods. According to Craig, people would stay in secure housing units for a couple of days or weeks (Weir, 54). Nowadays solitary confinement has become very popular. Inmates are being sent to solitary confinement for indefinite periods of time ranging from weeks to years. An Urban Institute survey of self-identified supermax wardens reported 44 states with at least one facility relatively housing 25,000 prisoners (Arrigo and Bullock, 2008). Additionally, it is believed that as prisons are being overpopulated, the numbers are increasing throughout the years.
Prisoners are locked behinds cells confined in a small space without windows for 22 to 23 hours per day. Cells are illuminated by artificial light, which remain on all day so inmates have difficulty-distinguishing day from night (Arrigo and Bullock, 2008). At times the prisoner may be confined the whole day if they decide to misbehave. Interaction with other human beings is strictly prohibited. The only contact prisoners have is through a closed-circuit television to talk to their visitors or when correctional officers placed handcuffs and other restraints (Pizarro and Narag, 2008). From the extreme isolation, such inmates tend to fear social contact by being away for so long. Solitary housing unit prisoners have no access to educational programs, rehabilitative sources and any congregate activity such as exercise or dining. It is strictly restrained to get access to personal belongings or reading material (Arrigo and Bullock, 2008).
Solitary confine...

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... (Pizarro and Narag, 2008). Keeping prisoners away benefits society as a whole outweighing the negative effects.

Works Cited

Arrigo, B. A. and Bullock, J. L. (2008). The psychological effects of solitary confinement on prisoners in supermax units: Reviewing what we know and recommending what should change. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 52, 622-640.
Cockrell, J. F. (2013). Solitary confinement: The law today and the way forward. Law and Psychology Review, 37, 211-227.
Pizarro, J. M. and Narag, R. E. (2008). Supermax prisons: What we know, what we do not know, and where we are going. The Prison Journal, 88, 23-42.
Weir, K. (2012). Alone, in ‘the hole’ Psychologists probe the mental health effects of solitary confinement. Monitor on Psychology, 43(5), 54. Retrieved from http://www.apa.org/monitor/2012/05/solitary.aspx

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