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I was assigned to research ethical issues and current policies concerning to our topic “Solitary Confinement and how it can potentially lead to mental illnesses”. The major ethical issues I will be focusing on are whether it is ethically right to segregate members of society in a small box for up to 23-24 hours a day for long periods of time ranging from several months to years, whether the lack of face-to-face interaction for inmates already separated from a normal society would potentially lead to medical illnesses such as depression or anxiety ethically or morally correct, and also whether guards should act quickly to send someone to solitary confinement even if they did not instigate a violent act. I will be arguing the fact that the length
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
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
“US: Look Critically at Widespread Use of Solitary Confinement.” Human Rights Watch, 1 July 2016,
Supermaximum security prisons, which fall under the consolidation model, are associated with a number of ethical problems. There are a number of issues that need to be taken into consideration when discussing the use of supermax prisons. Hans Toch, a corrections scholar, pointed out that the methods used in supermax prisons are not new penal techniques. In fact, those types of prison conditions were adopted in the past and rejected because of increased rates of inmates developing mental illness (Hickey, 2010). Supermaximum security prisons have been associated with past attempts, like the Eastern State Penitentiary, where twenty-four-hour isolation was used and there were no programs for self improvement.
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 ...
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.
The Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) has deemed solitary confinement as an unconstitutional form of punishment. It expresses that solitary confinement should be classified as torture because it inflicts potential physical and mental damage on inmates. Being confined to a cell for over 22 hours a day with absolutely no human contact is an inhumane practice and cannot be beneficial enough to overcome the consequences that an inmate must face upon release. Solitary confinement clearly violates the Eighth Amendment, which prohibits “cruel and unusual punishment.” Solitary confinement is the epitome of torture. Inmates often recall not being able to distinguish the time they spend in confinement; hours feel like days, and days feel like months. Certain prisons use solitary confinement differently than others. The Pelican Bay Security Housing Unit (SHU) is known as the “most restrictive prison in California.” It is one of the harshest “super-maximum” prisons in the country, meaning that inmates may be subjected to solitary confinement for a set amount of time or an indefinite duration. This is known as the ‘supe...
If a person convicted of a crime shows no signs of being mentally ill when entering a prison which enforces the long-term use solitary confinement, by the time they completed their sentence and are released, their mental health will have been severely compromised. Studies have shown that the long-term use of segregation in prisons can cause a wide variety of phycological effects such as anxiety, psychosis, depression, perceptual distortions, and paranoia, often leading to a desire to self-harm or in more severe cases suicide. Not only is it wrong to hold a criminal in solitary confinement for any longer then fifteen days, it is unconstitutional. Although many believe the use of solitary
Metzner, J. L., & Fellner, J. (2010). Solitary Confinement and Mental Illness in U.S. Prisons: A Challenge for Medical Ethics. The Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, 38(1), 104-108.
The study continues on to explain further ramifications, such as, physical effects. This shows some of the devastating effects the practice of administrative segregation has on inmates’ mental and physical well-being. Often, it is the mentally ill that are unfairly subject to this practice. “Mentally ill inmates may find themselves inappropriately placed in administrative segregation because of a lack of other suitable placements, protective custody reasons, or disruptive behavior related to their mental illness.” (O 'Keefe 125). Instead of providing safety to inmates and staff as the prison system claims administrative segregation is for, its main objective is social isolation. Which is one of the harmful elements of AS that makes it torture. Additionally, an annual report from the Canadian Government’s Office of the Correctional Investigator’s states, “close to one-third of reported self-injury incidents occurred in (federal prisons) segregation units”. Therefore, one can infer that the negative effects of AS are contradictory to providing safety to inmates. UN Special Rapporteur on Torture Juan Mendéz proposed administrative segregation should be banned as the “isolation of inmates amounted to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment or – in more severe cases – to torture.” The ramifications of administrative segregation amount to what is defined as torture by lawyer and human rights Juan Mendéz. Administrative segregation is an unconstitutional treatment of inmates and does not constitute the values of our society, or the dignity and humanity of all people. Which is contradictory to rehabilitating a person to be physically, socially and mentally restored for reintroduction into society. Its use in Canada’s prison system is unjustified, unethical, and ultimately,
Solitary confinement ranks as one of the most controversial forms of governmental punishment. The controversy regards the constitutionality, or in other terms the humaneness of prolonged isolation. The justice system regards prisoners who are assigned solitary confinement as potentially too dangerous to be permitted any form of interaction with other inmates or prison guards. Solitary confinement is the isolation of a prisoner in a small, artificially lit cell that is generally about eight by four feet in dimension. This containment lasts for approximately 23 hours a day, and when permitted to exit the cell for an hour, the prisoner still receives no amount of significant social interaction and is simply allowed to pace in a longer isolated chamber.
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
Throughout life we all live through moments that change who we are; mentally, physically and psychologically. These moments can be, huge and defining or something as small as whether we leave our house or just stay home on a certain day. For some, we find ourselves looking back, and not even realizing the power of the decision we made and how it brought us to who we are now. For others, the decisions we made lead to obvious outcomes. A prime example of this is a criminal. Though, he or she might not have known or thought they would get caught, the acts they voluntarily proceeded in, are illegal and the one and only future they ultimately have is jail or prison. Within the prison system, criminals are faced with these same decisions, but the punishment will have much more detrimental effects than any other decision: solitary confinement. This brings me to my main point. Contrary to many may think, it is not just a myth that solitary confinement can and will have extremely detrimental psychological and social effects on any human being, criminal or not.
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. When an inmate has a current mental illness, prior to entering into the prison, and it goes undiagnosed and untreated, the illness can just be worsened and aggravated.
...t. An inmate should not be put in solitary confinement without a court order. They can be kept in their cell, but should be able to exercise at least two hours each day and shower for at least thirty minutes a day. Inmates also should have thirty minutes of counseling and therapy every day. The focus of solitary confinement should be protection and rehabilitation. Inmates in solitary confinement should be given books and educational supplies to help them develop the skills needed to remain out of prison when they have finished their sentence. Also they should be given access to programs that are specifically designed for them to get out of solitary confinement. Every inmate in solitary confinement should have psychiatric testing done at least every month. If an inmate does not pass this test, then they should be removed from solitary confinement and put in therapy.