Solitary confinement

Solitary confinement has been around for centuries. Inmates are kept inside a cell that is approximately 80 square feet, smaller than a typical horse stable for 23 hours a day. In history, there have been different solitary confinements Walnut Street Jail in Philadelphia, Newgate Prison in NYC, Auburn Prison in Western NY, Eastern State Penitentiary Philadelphia and Sing Sing (Biggs 1). Inmates are placed in these isolation units for many reasons, as punishment, protection or education. Is…

One major issue within the Prison system is, people who go to solitary confinement are more likely to have mental health problems, than someone who is not in solitary confinement and has social interactions, sunlight, normal meals, fresh air and a comfortable space to rest. Solitary confinement should be a last resort, not something you do as a slap on the wrist for something either unintentional or something very small. If an inmate has killed another, planned to kill another, started a gang…

Juvenile solitary confinement has been used over the years to punish poor behavior in the United States juvenile prison system. However after long term negative side effects that isolation can cause in teens, the General public has been in support of isolation alternatives. In this paper, I will be discussing the state by state solitary confinement rules and regulations, how rehabilitation and therapeutic services can be a healthy option as an alternative to confinement and how our nation’s…

Conversations revolving around the prison system are not black and white, there is a large grey area. Within that grey area are the topics, most individuals do not care to speak about or even avoid the subject. In the YouTube videos Prison: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver and Prisoner Re-entry: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver that were posted to the Last Week Tonight account, discussed the topics most individuals ignore. When people are incarcerated, they lose almost all of their voice…

Sitting in jail isn't fun. Sitting in a cage with guards all around you, is also no fun. This pretty much sums up Y/N's stay at Belle Reve Penitentiary. The guards where to be stationed around her so-called "cell", twenty-four seven. It wasn't even a cell, it was a cage that sat in the middle of an open space. The positioning of the guards wasn't the case however. The guards stood at attention for the first month or so. This wasn't because Y/N was a dangerous criminal, well she sort of was of…

Introduction: Opium Smokers in an Opium Den, Qing Dynasty It was way past sunrise, and yet no one could be seen in the streets. There was no one walking around, tilling the fields, or preparing for a new day. Instead, people gathered around a small, round table with their metal pipes, pumping the smoke in and out of their throat. The sound of the inhale and exhale was all a visitor could hear. People then lay down for hours at a time, caring about nothing but fulfilling their daily cravings…

Stuck in a dark room, not knowing the location or time, there are two choices to choose from, calmness or violence. Calmness will only last for a short amount of time unlike violence which will overpower the calmness rapidly. As if the boys in the Lord of the Flies by William Golding were stuck in a dark room, they were stuck on an island without knowing the location or time. Calmness and violence appear on the island through different characters and in the end violence, or savagery, wins over…

Finally, months have passed since our media have published a chilling inside story of the life in the Sonoma County jail (Main Adult Detention Facility) that remained unsolved by experts for years. The most important subject publicized from this magnificent source, was that this immoral county jail has lacked the quality of serious attention for prisoners with mental health disabilities. There are mental health resources in the Sonoma County jail. These programs are available for ordinary…

Even a mentally healthy person can quickly develop mental disorders while in jail or prison. The more severe psychologically harm seems to be inflicted to those in solitary or in the maximum-security prisons which isolate the prisoner without books, weights or exercise nor visitations. They are fed their meals through a slot in the cell which has a bunk and a toilet of some kind (do they have a sink?). Those that have showers are mostly turned off. One hour of exercise sometimes alone is…

Solitary confinement, or also known as Security Housing Unit, is defined as isolating an inmate from the general population for twenty-two to twenty-three hours a day for months or years. Its main purpose is to punish inmates who break prison rules or endanger prison guards and other inmates. First, let’s take a step back and look at the downfall of solitary confinement. U.S prisons must ban solitary confinement because it causes psychological effects on inmates, it is considered cruel and…