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Reforming the prison system
Negative effects of solitary confinement
Negative effects of solitary confinement
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Imagine being locked in a windowless, lifeless environment for 23 hours a day. For some criminals, this environment is to be endured for years. The issue of prison reform has been a popular and difficult topic in the news the past few years and continues a year after this article was published. In the New York Times article “New York Rethinks Solitary Confinement” The Editorial Board argues that prison reform in the category of isolation is not only necessary but also beneficial in rehabilitating those who have commit crimes. With the Editorial Boards use of statistics, avoidance of the words “criminal” or “prisoner” and pathos appeal by informing how particularly weak minorities are affected. The articles focus of prison reformation in regards …show more content…
The author refers to this set of people as “the most vulnerable group of inmates.” With such a low percentage of inmates with excessive amounts of solitary confinement, these groups narrow the percentage of criminals placed in this situation even further. The article mentions that an individual placed in solitary are seven times more likely to harm themselves, the highest of rate was from those who are mentally ill or under the age of 18 (The Editorial Board). Now these criminals have not only made poor choices and positioned themselves in solitude, but also now decide to harm themselves. With a superficial view, it would be easy for a reader to find sympathy for those in solitary confinement when in reality all persons that are a part of these numbers have committed a …show more content…
It is just as difficult to prevent those who commit misdeeds in prison as it is to prevent that person from committing the crime, this is why tougher punishment is of high importance. Focusing on reform will not deter an inmate from misbehaving within or outside of prison. A unpleasant punishment however, will turn away a criminal from his misbehaviors while incarcerated and with the enduring impression of prison life outside of the cell walls. Although this article fails to address those circumstances that an inmate will need solitary confinement, it does prevail in bringing light to those few who are mistreated in prison facilities. The article those who are mistreated on the other hand are sparse and should be treated differently from those who are stable and
Solitary confinement has the ability to shatter even the healthiest mind when subjected to indefinite lockdown, yet the mentally ill, who are disproportionately represented in the overall prison population, make up the majority of inmates who are held in that indefinite lockdown. Within your average supermax prison in which all inmates are subjected to an elevated form of solitary confinement, inmates face a 23-hour lockdown, little to no form of mental or physical stimulation that is topped off with no human interaction beyond the occasional guard to inmate contact. It is no wonder ‘torture’ is often used synonymously to describe solitary confinement. For years, cases arguing against solitary confinement have contested against its inhumane
It is easy to turn a blind I when there is no direct personal experience. Mass incarceration is an issue that influences other issues within the correctional system. The more people under correctional supervision means, the more individuals who can potentially be sexually victimized or placed in solitary confinement. Both are issues within the correctional system. Moreover, studies have shown that sexual victimization and solitary confinement have adverse side effects on inmates. If any of these variables are going to change for the better, then policy needs to change. Those in society, especially those with power who can affect policy in the penal system need to see these issues as a major problem. Some of the proposed solutions to reduce the incarceration rate and not new ideas, but a change in approach. Heroux (2011), suggested possible policy solutions to reduce the mass incarceration. Some of these solutions are earlier release, a change in mandatory minimums, transfer to non-institutions facilities, the diversion from institutional facilities, and doing away with mandatory minimum laws. This could be the next step towards reducing mass
Across the state of New York, thirty-eight hundred inmates are being held against their will in an eighty square-foot cell for twenty-three hours a day as a form of rehabilitation. The purpose of solitary confinement is meant to give individuals time to dwell on their actions, and how they can better themselves moving forward; even if it breaks their morale in the process. The New York Times conveys this through a 2014 article, “New York Rethinks Solitary Confinement,” “Inmates placed in solitary confinement were nearly seven times as likely to harm themselves as those in the general jail population.” By stating this, the editorial board expresses that the isolation unit is doing more harm than good. Solitary confinement displays that the damage is not only being inflicted mentally, but physically as well. During the
Imagine. You are alone with your thoughts. There is nothing that can separate you from their unpredictable horrors because you spend 23 hours a day completely alone. In silence you wait, desperate for a chance to leave the four-walled, concrete cell you now call home. These are the conditions of solitary confinement that are still in widespread use throughout America today. Although solitary confinement may seem like the safest way to protect other prisoners, guards and even the inmate himself, it is an inhumane and cruel punishment and it has the opposite effect of what prisons are intended for. .
The effects of prolonged isolation for inmates in confinement cells are obsessive-compulsive tendencies, paranoia, anger-management issues, and severe anxiety (Sifferlin, Alexandra). Along with the basic concepts such as food, water, and shelter, there are two other basics that Dr. Terry Kupers states are required for human wellbeing: “social interaction and meaningful activity. By doing things we learn who we are and we learn our worth as a person. The two things solitary confinement does are make people solitary and idle” (Sifferlin, Alexandra). Isolation and confinement remove prisoners’ ability to perform significant tasks and act as a part of society. This dehumanizes the inmates because they are no longer able to understand their role as a human being. One inmate, Jeanne DiMola, spent a year in solitary confinement and expressed her thoughts while in the cell: “I felt sorry I was born … Most of all I felt sorry that there wasn 't a road to kill myself because every day was worse than the last" (Rodhan, Maya). In DiMola’s opinion, a death penalty more than likely would have felt more humane than the isolation she experienced. Another prisoner, Damon Thibodeaux, stated, “Life in solitary is made all the worse because it 's a hopeless existence … It is torture
Therefore, in the bigger picture, the social construction of this widespread stigma, that criminals are not real people, has lead to the keepings of solitary confinement within the prison system. This then forces these prisoners within the American prison system to go through these psychiatric syndromes, suicidal thoughts, and overall, a more dangerous and a more unbearable life. Many may think it is not as bad as it seems, but the exact opposite. Solitary confinement can and will have extremely detrimental psychological and social effects on any human being, no matter who you are.
Thousands of people statewide are in prisons, all for different reasons. However, the amount of mental illness within prisons seems to go unaddressed and ignored throughout the country. This is a serious problem, and the therapy/rehabilitation that prison systems have do not always help those who are mentally ill. Prison involvement itself can contribute to increased suicide (Hills, Holly). One ‘therapy’ that has increased throughout the years has been the use of solitary confinement, which has many negative effects on the inmates.
In the essay "Prison "Reform" in America," Roger T. Pray points out the much attention that has been devoted to research to help prevent crimes. Showing criminals the errors of their ways not by brutal punishment, but by locking them up in the attempt to reform them. Robert Pray, who is a prison psychologist, is currently a researcher with the Utah Dept. of Corrections. He has seen what has become of our prison system and easily shows us that there is really no such thing as "Prison Reform"
Solitary confinement is occasionally used in most prison systems as a means to maintain prison order: as disciplinary punishment or as an administrative measure for inmates who are considered an escape risk or a risk to themselves or to prison order in general. Some inmates, for example, sex offenders, choose voluntary isolation to avoid harassment from other prisoners. Solitary confinement is popular in America. Solitary confinement is dangerous in its own right. It deprives prisoners of their constitutional rights, and it creates a more dangerous world for all. Supermax prisons remain a major part of the problem, and given that they have shown no ability to hold prisoners without subjecting those prisoners to unconstitutional and unethical
One of the positive attributes of solitary confinement would be that it keeps more “dangerous inmates” out of general population, where they could become violent and hurt other inmates. Another way that solitary confinement can be look at positively, is that it can be used as rehabilitation time, to reform the prisoner’s character. On the flip side, there are many reasons why solitary confinement can be viewed as inhumane and cruel punishment. Solitary confinement can lead to the loss of social skills, the development of mental illnesses, especially depression and psychosis, and have negative effects on
Private prisons are prisons that are operated by private companies under contract with the government. Prison privatization origins back to the to the early 1800s with the lease system. The lease system was a system of hiring out prisoners at a fixed rate per day to a contractor. Prisoners were transported to private parties where they would work and for exchange get food and supplies. In private privatization states would shift control to a private contractor because of the rising cost of a growing prison population. Prison privatization started in the United States in 1825 in the state of Kentucky. But they were not extensively used until the 1980s during the war on drugs. Private prisons became an alternative in the 1980s during the war on drugs when overcrowding in prisons was a big issue and there was a rising cost prisons.
The Prison Policy Initiative is a very successful organization with members who believe that there are negative effects to mass incarceration. The PPI is a non-profit organization that composes research to expose the harmful effects of mass incarceration and starts support groups to create a more informed society. “The Prison Policy Initiative challenges over-criminalization and mass incarceration through research, advocacy, and organizing. We show how the United States’ excessive and unequal use of punishment and institutional control, harms individuals and undermines our communities and national well-being.” (Wright)
The results are even more detrimental for those who previously have been diagnosed with mental disorders. Sadly, it was estimated by a 2003 report by Human Rights Watch that two thirds of those placed in segregated housing have a mental disorder of some sort. This raises so many more issue. As you can imagine, having a mental impairment can make it extremely difficult to function properly in a prison setting. The second they make a mistake or act out of the ordinary, they get thrown into isolation. As a result, their conditions only get worse. Those who have conditions that need assistance and medication are ignored and they do not receive the proper attention that they need in order to control their conditions. “It is not unusual for prisoners in solitary confinement to compulsively cut their flesh, repeatedly smash their heads against walls, swallow razors and other harmful objects, or attempt to hang themselves” (American Civil Liberties Union). It is obvious that solitary confinement does nothing but cause those who have a mental disorder to get even worse and out of control. It is unethical and has been ruled by federal court that placing the mentally ill in conditions such as these is cruel and unusual punishment according to the United States Constitution. This needs to come to an
President Barack Obama’s (2015) speech at the NAACP National Convention, addressed the policy issue of solitary confinement. President Obama asked Attorney General Loretta Lynch to evaluate “the overuse of solitary confinement across American prisons.” The purpose of the review is not limited to understanding how, when and why correctional facilities practice solitary confinement, but also to develop strategies for reducing the use of the practice throughout the nation’s criminal justice system. The published Department of Justice report (2016) provides recommendations and Guiding Principles on the use of solitary confinement policy reforms on Federal, State and Local levels.
Many feel that segregation provides high risk prisoners with some protection from the general prison population. There are high risk offenders, such as child molesters and murderers, as well as ex-gang members or dangerous prisoners that can be kept segregated with solitary confinement. Because security protocols are much higher in solitary, it becomes much more difficult to harm someone. Others feel that it allows a prisoner to serve their sentence. Some might say that a death in prison is justice serving itself, but the laws of the US and other developed nations do not support vigilantism which is the act of taking the law into one’s own