Why Is Solitary Confinement Ethically Wrong

Some individuals find solace in being alone; however, imagine being alone in a concrete cell for months or even years? Isolated from the entire world into a small box seems intimidating, but this tactic is used throughout the US prison system. Solitary confinement is as a disciplinary action on the prisoners to ensure their safety and serve as punishment. This issue has raised both ethical and practical questions on its usage through US prisons because of its benefits and drawbacks.

This week’s text revealed that offenders spending more than six years in a supermax prison, will suffer from mental illness. Long term solitary confinement promotes anger, confusion, and depression within inmates (Schmalleger & Smykia, 2015). Nevertheless, there are no studies that support the claim of confinement causing mental illness. If a person causes harm to any innocent victim for any reason and is convicted of the heinous crime(s) he or she should be sentenced

Some might argue that solitary confinement is actually effective and has its benefits, however this is not the case since this punishment only seems to make criminals much more dangerous when they leave prison than they were before and research shows that inmates who left solitary confinement experience increased anger and end up committing the kind of criminality that society is looking to prevent by using this method of punishment. Thus, solitary confinement ultimately fails as a rehabilitative measure, and as a way to "settle down" problematic

According to American Friends Service Committee, “numerous studies have documented the harmful psychological effects of long-term solitary confinement, which can produce debilitating symptoms and result in an increased risk of suicide and the effects are magnified for two particularly vulnerable populations: juveniles, whose brains are still developing, and people with mental health issues...” (2017). My topic of discussion deals with the injustice of social isolation in our prison system and the effects on an individual 's mental health. Kalief Browder a fairly normal adolescent residing Bronx, NY. Kalief endured false imprisonment at the age of sixteen; he spent three years and 800 days of those years were served in solitary confinement.

According to the Eighth Amendment, cruel and unusual punishment is prohibited. For this prohibition to be significant throughout society in which confinement is the essential method of criminal penalty, it is essential to establish when prison conditions are cruel and brutal.

The United States Government spends a lot of money($75 billion) on locking people up and helping big businesses than helping prisoners. Many prisoners probably spend hours, days, or probably months in solitary confinement. Once they get out of solitary confinement the prisoners behavior changes like they won’t talk to no one and they just rather be by themselves cause they can’t be around big groups of people cause that 's what solitary confinement does to the mind of people.Haney’s research has shown “that many prisoners in supermax units experience extremely high levels of anxiety and other negative emotions. When released--often without any "decompression" period in lower-security facilities--they have few of the social or occupational skills necessary to succeed in the outside world”. Rehabilitation programs can help prisoners with this disorder and help them out by them getting back their socializing skills back so they can succeed in the outside world. Also programs are a way better way to help prisoners that wanna change their lives for good, so they don 't keep coming back to

“I found solitary confinement the most forbidding aspect of prison life. There is no end and no beginning; there is only one's mind, which can begin to play tricks. Was that a dream or did it really happen? One begins to question everything.”This is a quote from Nelson Mandela who spent 27 years in prison and many of those years in solitary confinement. He only got through with intense determination which many criminals don’t have. Solitary confinement should not be allowed and must be banned. Solitary confinement, or SHU(special housing unit), causes severe mental problems as well as brain damage. Solitary confinement violates basic human rights. SHU is not just used for the “worst of the worst”, it is a common punishment for misbehavior in

Shawshank’s Redemption, an all-time best movie produced in 1994 starred and led by actors Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman. A story about two imprisoned men’s experience with the corrupted prison institution through their way of self-redemption. There is a line, which was well read by Morgan Freeman, I am particularly fond of. Here I quote ‘These walls are funny. First you hate them, then you get used to them. Enough time passes, you get so you depend on them. That 's institutionalized.’ A prison should aim at retribution, incapacitation, deterrence and rehabilitation. I am very well convinced that prison has served its first three purposes by depriving offenders’ freedom, but the

In Atul Gawande “ HellHole” essay they talked about the experiences and effects of people who were previously in solitary confinement. Solitary confinement can be best explained as the process of removing an individual and isolating them from their environment and socialization. Atul Gawande is specifically talking about prisoners of war and incarcerated people and how their experience was and that process. The essay talked about how people are put in isolation which caused them to act out of their character. Goffman would argue that effects of solitary confinement are exactly what total institutions can do to a person's. Goffman would explain how total institutions disrupt people's routines and who they are. PRison as a total institution reduces

Solitary confinement, in my opinion, is cruel and unusual punishment. If there was not a mental-health crisis in America, and there was in fact a rehabilitation-focused prison system, solitary confinement would be greatly reduced and used much more sparingly. What is the point of driving people to madness by putting them in isolation? It would be so much cheaper for tax payers to change the system to a more effective one that actually reduces

President Barack Obama, in 2016, banning the use of solitary confinement for youth housed in the Federal Bureau of Prisons. In his op-end, President Obama wrote, “How can we subject prisoners to unnecessary solitary confinement, knowing its effects, and then expect them to return to our communities as whole people? It doesn’t make us safer. It’s an affront to our common humanity…[and has] devastating, lasting psychological consequences.” He points to the most tragic repercussion of solitary confinement: the correlation between time spent in isolation and suicide. Lindsay Hayes has studied youth suicide in confinement settings extensively. He confirms

By definition, solitary confinement is the isolation of a prisoner in a separate cell as a form of punishment. This technique has been practiced in the United States since the early 1800’s and arguments on whether or not it should be practiced followed very soon after its institution. Arguments surrounding solitary confinement are slightly diverse, ranging from full support to views denouncing it. The arguments are more complex than just pro versus con; however, some reside in the middle of the argument, acknowledging its flaws and expecting reform, but also acknowledge the base purpose of the institution.

Solitary confinement is the act of housing a convict for 22-23 hours a day in an isolated cell, completely free from any human contact for an extended period of time. Going from days to possibly decades while sitting in these cells. There are more than 80,000 men, women, and children in solitary confinement in prisons across the United States according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics. Not including thousands more in jails, juvenile facilities, immigration detention centers and military prisons. After experiencing confinement some inmates suffer from negative mental health effects that can possibly lead to suicide. Solitary confinement should be abolished all across the United States because of the severe negative effects it has on prisoners.

They have become alienated by society, and are strangers to their friends and family. The psychological impact of incarcerating an innocent or undeserving individual can be detrimental. Post-victimization disorders such as post acute stress disorder and PTSD can cause emotional detachment, despair, hostility, and increased risk of various phobias (Polifroni, 2018). Unwarranted subjectivity to extreme punishment and condemnation leaves victims with a host of potential social, emotional, and psychological deficits including distrust, dependance on institutions, diminished self-worth, post-traumatic stress reactions and more (Haney, 2002). The process of being incarcerated brings about several psychological adaptations, brought about by the extreme demands of living in prison. Even after release, the counterproductive, deeply internalized patterns learned in prison are still present (Haney, 2002). In addition, the rate of incarceration of mentally ill individuals is alarming. Suspects will mental and developmental disorders are often unfairly sent to prison without regard to their conditions, leaving them helpless. Mentally ill inmates have an even more difficult time adjusting to life in prison, leaving them at an even higher risk for psychological

Every human on earth is born with the desire for some type of human connection and as one grows the need becomes even more profound. This need is portrayed in the film The Yellow Wallpaper when a woman with a evident mental disorder is isolated causing that disorder to intensify. Although, one's mental well being is not the only victim when it comes to social isolation. In the article, “The Dangers of Social Isolation”, Traci Watson explains how the lack of human connection in a person's life can put them at a higher risk of death. Every person needs some type of human connection to maintain a mentally and psychically stable life.