Negative Effects Of Solitary Confinement

18 October 2011
The Negative Effects of Solitary Confinement
Today, there are more than 80,000 prisoners in the United States that are held in solitary confinement. (Solitary Confinement) The two main reasons persons are put into solitary confinement are because of ones conduct in prison, and the severity of ones crimes. They are locked away in an eight by ten cell for twenty three hours a day for years; sometimes decades. They are deprived physical contact with other people; with the exception of when they are moved to shower and exercise. Their meals are given to them through slots. Some hold the opinion that it is the only way to handle the worst prisoners. Others may insist solitary confinement is tantamount to psychological torture.
Built in 1829, the first solitary confinement prison was the Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia. It was inspired by Quaker philosophy: penitence and reform through isolation. The idea was to put people back in touch with their own true self to incite a natural process of self-reformation. They would be in their cell, with a view of the sky, as if to be in touch with God. In its time, Eastern State Penitentiary was the most technologically advanced prison in the world. As time passed, problems started presenting themselves. Instead of being reformed, many inmates were physiologically ravaged. Some were completely withdrawn, and others displayed increasingly violent behavior. Statistical evidence showed that the rates of suicide, death, and disturbances were so high that eventually the system fell apart. In 1913, solitary confinement was widely regarded as ineffective and was abandoned in most places around the world. (Solitary Confinement) Today, the United States is one of the few countries in the world that still employs long term solitary confinement in correctional institutions. (Solitary
Stuart Grassian has completed a distinguished declaration of his research and views of solitary confinement. It claims that solitary confinement can cause severe psychiatric harm. The harm comes from restricted environmental and social stimulation. In some severe cases, it can be associated with agitation and self-destructive behavior. Garrison took part in a class action lawsuit, Libby v. Hogan. During this time, he analyzed the conditions of solitary confinement at the maximum security State Penitentiary in Walpole, Massachusetts. He learned that over half of the population reported a progressive inability to tolerate ordinary stimuli, one third were described as hearing voices, and over half suffered severe panic attacks. In regards to paranoia, almost half of the prisoners reported paranoid and persecutory fears. Almost half of the prisoners reported episodes of loss of impulse control with random violence; they would lose control over insensible events. Repeated patterns of such cognitive dysfunctions are further proof the inmates are losing control as a result of being put into solitary confinement. (Grassian