Special Population Research Paper

Many researchers have found that long periods of time in solitary confinement can have negative mental effects on inmates. This is due to long-term confinement because it consists of not only prolonged deprivation of social interaction but also sensory deprivation (Haney, 2003). Medical ethics are also in question about the effects of long term confinement. Medical professionals have to handle a particularly difficult situation because they are required to provide medical assistance to these inmates that may be facing psychological issues. This is a problem because medical professionals are aware that solitary confinement has negative effects on the well-being and mental state of these individuals (Shalev, 2011).

Inmates have been placed here for both short and long term sentences. Segregation has a significant impact on inmates with preexisting mental illnesses. According to Arrigo and Bullock?s (2008) research, ?the extreme isolation that was characteristics of the early prisons?ultimately resulted in serious physical and psychological consequences for convicts.? The SHU has become the way prisons control troublesome inmates. Solitary inmates are only out of their cells for weekly showers and recreation time, but they are still heavily restrained. These inmates have no contact with the general population including dining and religious gatherings. This method of isolation leaves no remove for communication with other

Solitary confinement has had a long history in the American prison system. America is the first country to adapt solitary confinement into the prison regiment. Pennsylvania had the first special housing units for inmates or “SHU”. When Europeans came to America to look at the new model for prisons in Pennsylvania they wrote reports describing to the European parliament on how prisoners were treated like caged animals. Many of them quickly realized that this was not what prisons were set out to accomplish. The purpose of a prison is to rehabilitate criminals and bring them back into society as an individual that has the best mental tools and skills to make their respective communities better. Putting inmates in solitary confinement for more than 48 hours can only lead to awful emotional pain and mental problems which can result in self-destructive behavior to regain the self-control that is being deprived through this process of isolation and expulsion.

A study conducted in California’s prison system from 1999 to 2004 determined that nearly half of all suicides committed by inmates were because they were in solitary confinement (Breslow, 2014). Although some inmates have failed at their suicide attempts, that does not mean that they have not attempted to end their lives. There is a higher rate of inmates self mutilating while being in solitary confinement than if they were in the general prison population (Breslow, 2014). This means that inmates that are isolated are more of a danger to themselves. Being in solitary confinement also attributes to personality disorders, Breslow mentioned that many inmates lose the ability to communicate with others after being in solitary confinement for a long period of time and thus do not want to leave their cells (2014). It can be argued that having inmates in solitary confinement is a human rights violation. When inmates are isolated, they are constantly being monitored through a camera. The inmates have no form of communication with people and even their food is passed through a slot on the door. Solitary confinement can be considered torture because it has been proven that by subjecting inmates to this they experience mental illnesses such as paranoia, hallucination, panic attacks, and suicidal attempts (Breslow, 2014).

About one out of every 12 incarcerated people in New York State jails are in solitary confinement, and in conditions that can be torturous. These prisoners await trials and would not be there if they could afford bail. The population includes adolescents as young as 16 years. In solitary confinement these inmates are locked in a cell for 23 hours a day with minimal social interaction and activity. This isolation may last up to months or years. Solitary confinement can have a devastating psychological impact on those subjected to, particularly people with pre-existing mental illness and adolescents whose brains are not fully developed. During Mayor Bloomberg administration the number of people in solitary confinement increased even as the overall population dropped. A named Stephen Slevin was subjected to a tortuous life. He spent 22 months in solitary confinement in jail. He was neglected to a point where he was forced to pull out his own tooth because they would not allow him to see a dentist. His attorney has asked for him to get 22 million dollars for the ordeal the he suffered, but they ended up getting 15.5. (Breslow

The horrors of solitary confinement. One man named Gabriel Eber who was a prison inmate at East Mississippi Correctional Facility retells the horrors of solitary stating “Men are kept in small, unsanitary isolation cells with scant human attention for months and years. Self-mutilation and suicide attempts are not uncommon (Rienzi, 2015)”. There are thousands of inmates who spend 23 hours a day, in a windowless cell alone without human interaction. One account from Kate Edwards who runs an advocacy group known as “Wisdom” in one of New York State’s correctional facilities states “They would change in disturbing ways”, “They became unkempt, less able to focus. As the weeks went by, they would look more and more distressed. I was watching them disintegrate. (Lueders, 2015)”. The reality is that inmates that are locked away from 23 hours a day for weeks or even years, facing severe repercussions that ultimately do more harm than good. Inmates are locked away and having no interaction at all and nothing to do. “They face crushing depression and anxiety. They scream and cry. They slash and bite their own flesh. They smear feces on the wall. They try to kill themselves with pens, paperclips, bed sheets, with metal from

According to a 2003 report conducted by Human Rights Watch, “[it is] estimated that one-fifth to two-thirds of those held in isolation had some form of mental illness” (Breslow). In an interview of solitary confinement inmates conducted by New York’s Correctional Association, the inmates were “actively psychotic, manic, paranoid or seemingly overmedicated” (Solitary Watch). Robert Foor is just one of the many people who have been placed in solitary despite a mental illness. During his time in isolation, he “became more mentally ill, mutilating himself by cutting and biting, and [attempting] to hang himself, eventually dying in confinement” (Dusty Rhodes). Another instance of a man with a mental illness taking his life in solitary confinement is Anthony Gay. Anthony “cut off a part of his genitalia, which a physician identified as ‘possibly a testicle’ and hung it from a string tied to his cell door. He was treated and then sent to a ‘strip cell’ as punishment. Though his mental health has been notably declining, he has faced increasing isolation and longer sentences due to incidents of throwing feces and urine at guards” (Solitary Watch). For someone who is suffering with a mental illness, solitary confinement is a vicious, never ending cycle. The isolation and harsh conditions make the inmate more unstable and ill, and because they are sick, they tend to mutilate their bodies or act out in inappropriate ways. The inmate will get treated for any inflicted injuries, but will ultimately be punished for his/her behavior, getting a longer sentence in isolation. The cycle then starts again, but the inmate is not treated for his/her mental illness, but, instead, gets sicker and sicker while being punished in solitary

The government has concluded that any research lab should not keep testing animals in the cages, so why government is treating human being in that way? The term solitary confinement becomes so popular as the politicians promised to be rigid and tough on crime. The politician makes different promises about keeping us safe and putting bad peoples behind the bars, but they donot think twice about potential effects on the convict’s health and family. Moving on, Solitary confinement is an isolation of the prisoner in a dark room sized of toilet for the long period of time. It breaks their spirit and ability to think; also has an uncountable negative effect on the body. They basically spend more than 23 hours per a day in the room that is same as the average parking spot in the USA. It has so many psychological, mental and physical effects on the body. Most of the people who came back after serving months in the confinement, likely to suffer from mental illness and experience sleeping problems, hallucinations like strange sounds and uncontrolled fear. Furthurmore, the situation of the prisoners is worst because the human body needs to interact with other peoples to maintain their mental and cognitive state. Without any interaction, they suffer from anxiety and depression that leads to various health and behavioral problems.

The report was to develop strategies for reducing the use of this practice throughout our nation’s criminal justice system. Over the past several months, a team of senior officials at the U.S. Department of Justice met regularly to study the issue of solitary confinement—or “restrictive housing,” to use the more general corrections term—and formulate policy solutions. This report is the culmination of the Department’s review (Raemisch 1). Data are from the National Inmate Survey (NIS), 201112, conducted in 233 state and federal prisons and 358 local jails, with a sample of 91,177 inmates nationwide United States. (Department of Justice 1).

The article published by Mother Jones, discusses the practices of isolation at juvenile prisons in the U.S. and the psychological effects on teenagers and goes into details regarding the United States Justice Department's investigations into juvenile facilities' practices. The article goes into more detail with concern of a 17-year-old boy called Kenny. Kenny has experience locked in isolation cell and the effect on his mental health, and a brief history of the practice of isolating prisoners in the United States. This interviewee is a boy who was a juvenile prisoner in Ohio who have spend “ 82 days in the hole—locked in his own room or an isolation cell-once for 19 days at a stretch, according to court documents” (Liebelson). He was diagnosed with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder and being locked up in isolation was psychological torment “I wasn’t even thinking straight, banging my head on the door and everything else. I was acting like a crazy person,” he said. “I had some of the roughest nights in there that I’ve ever had in my life”

Looking back to the early nineteenth century, the United States had adopted a new form of punishment. The punishment involves imprisoning a person in a cramped, concrete, sometimes windowless cell for hours ranging from 22 to 24 hours a day. Solitary confinement for many prison officials has been one of the primary methods to deal with difficult and sometimes dangerous inmates. Recreation for the rest of the prison population is usually about an hour a day, where with somebody that’s in solitary may only be limited to only three to five hours a week alone in another cage with little to no purposeful activities.

The United States claims that solitary confinement administers, “…the appropriate balance among prison security, public safety, cost efficiency, and prisoner welfare.” (Bennion, 2015) However, solitary confinement does not exactly take into consideration the welfare of a prisoner as they are sometimes kept in “windowless cement rooms with perimeters the size of a parking space or a king-sized bed for twenty-three hours a day. Their meals may be pushed through slots of large, solid metal doors.” (Bennion, 2015)

This paper will include a review of different prison systems that have occurred in America, and how the Pennsylvania and New York or Auburn model have helped facilitate the use of solitary confinement. To establish the negative effects solitary confinement has on humans, this paper will provide reasons it is used, how it is used, and review conditions of solitary confinement. It is widely used for purpose of punishment within prison systems and has developed into large super maximum facilities to hold the more dangerous inmates incarcerated. Through many case studies solitary confinement has resulted in detrimental

In order to tackle the issue of sentencing inmates to prolonged solitary confinement, certain measures must be taken. Cyrus Ahalt, Craig Haney, Sarah Rios, Matthew P. Fox, David Farabee, and Brie Williams, the authors of “Reducing the Use and Impact of Solitary Confinement in Corrections” discussed six actions that can be taken by correctional facilities in order to reduce the use of solitary confinement and possibly eliminate its negative impact. The six actions are the following: “1) Eliminate all solitary confinement not related to violent misconduct, 2) Limit the terms of isolation, 3) Prohibit the use of solitary confinement with especially vulnerable populations, 4) Require regular review of individuals in solitary confinement, 5) Provide specialized transitional services who are being prepared for transfer out of solitary confinement,

Mental Illness in our prison systems is often times overlooked and maybe even misunderstood. Is it because our prison systems are so overcrowded that the resources and medical staff needed do not want to deal with the mental issues prisoners suffer? Maybe it is because society would rather ignore, or “sweep under the rug”, inmates with mental health issues because they have committed a crime. Do they not deserve the same care and attention as other mental health patients? Perhaps, one of the reasons statistics are so high for repeat offenders is because of untreated/undetected mental health issues. In the following pages,