By: Shanna Amann

Solitary Confinement
Solitary confinement is the isolation of a prisoner in a separate cell as a punishment.

The cells are extremely small and the prisoners are left in here for hours on end without seeing or hearing from anyone.
Their sentencing can have them in solitary confinement for years on end. The hours spent alone has said to drive a man crazy. Is solitary confinement to harsh on the prisoners?
A Solitary Confinement holding cell

Why Are Prisoners Put in Solitary Confinement?

Many of the prisoners who are housed in long-term solitary confinement are undoubtedly a danger to the community and a danger to the corrections officers charged with their custody. But for many they are a danger not because they are coldly ruthless, but because they are volatile, impulseridden, and internally disorganized.

Stuart Grassian

Positive Effects of Solitary Confinement

Discipline Helps to discipline a rulebreaking inmate Management Effective for managing prisoners who are a serious threat to other prisoners Safety Limits harmful physical contact between inmates

Prisoner Cell Conditions

Small Space Bare walls Demonic drawings Mold/mildew Knats/fruit flies Thin, hard mattress

No outside light except through the slit in the door used to pass food
Human feces on the walls Cold stone/wood floors

Psychological Effects
Panic
Panic attacks/anxiety Claustrophobia Paranoia Obsessive thinking Dizziness

Anger
Agitation Loss of impulse control/ Self mutilation Obsessive violent thinking/ violent outbursts Hyperresponsivity: inability to tolerate ordinary stimuli, such as plumbing EEG abnormalities

Mental Problems
Hallucinations/Illusions Confusions, concentration loss, memory loss Depression Decreased level of alertness Loss of perceptual constancy: objects becoming larger and smaller, seeming to melt or change form

Self Mutilation
Found in 20% of prisoners
Self-harm victims are 70% more likely to commit suicide if they are held in solitary confinement rather than a regular holding cell

Cutting Scratching

Bruising Eating Disorders

Banging or hitting body parts Hair pulling

Psychological Disorders
Brain Dysfunction Psychiatric Syndrome/ Illness Discreet Syndrome: a constellation of symptoms occurring together

Neurological disorders
Delirium Antisocial Personality Disorders

ADHD
Florid Delirium: a confusional psychosis with intense agitation, fearfulness, and disorganization

Long Term Effects

Common Disorders

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Sleeping Disorders

Social Problems

Mental Changes

Intolerance of social interaction Fear of other human beings

Personality change Mood swings/ mental breakdowns

Statistics

Is Solitary Confinement the Best Option?

In order for a subject to benefit from aversive (or any other form of) conditioning, the behavior at issue must be a single, very clearly defined behavior. When multiple behaviors are responded to by the same reinforcer or punishment, learning and behavior change does not occur. Thus, placement in SHU, which is punishment for a host of different behaviors, is simply not being used in a manner consistent with an intent of behavior modification; there is inadequate linkage of any specific behavior to this punishment.

For any behavior modification scheme to work then, there must always be an exquisitely close relationship between behavior and response. Indeterminate or prolonged sentencing to solitary simply has nothing to do with aversive conditioning.

Stuart Grassian

Avoiding Confinement

Separation
Separate prisoners who misbehave into a private cell without being placed in solitary confinement They would be able to communicate with other prisoners or the guards, but not able to leave their cell for outside or workout privileges.

Manual Labor
For misbehavior, they can have bathroom duty, dish washing, sanitizing cells, sweeping floors, rounding up trash from within the prison facility, etc.

Construction
Those prisoners who misbehave but are not dangerous can work in a secluded construction field. This would help the economy, the community, and the prisoner.