Examining the Scientific Effects of Solitary Confinement on Prisoners’ Mental and Physical Health and its Long Term Effects after Release
Introduction
It would be an understatement to say that there are no problems in the American criminal justice system. A plethora of these problems stem from the way suspects and convicted criminals are treated in jails. Many guards lack appropriate training to handle inmates who have been diagnosed with mental illnesses; therefore, a myriad of the incarcerated are put into solitary confinement, resulting in irreversible mental and physical trauma. Solitary confinement increases and intensifies both the prevalence of mental and physical illness in prisoners as well as the recidivism rates of prisoners subject …show more content…
In order to properly rehabilitate prisoners, solitary confinement should be used in extreme cases only. A Department of Justice study led by former Attorney General Loretta Lynch indicates that isolation “should be used rarely, applied fairly, and subjected to reasonable constraints. The … best practices include housing inmates in the least restrictive settings necessary to ensure … that restrictions on an inmate’s housing serve a specific penological purpose and are imposed for no longer than necessary to achieve that purpose” (“U.S. Department of Justice”). Another study by the same office proposed reforms to solitary confinement which include “expanding treatment of those with mental illness, increasing the amount of time inmates spend out of their cells, and ensuring inmates are not released into communities directly from solitary confinement” (“The President’s Role”). If implemented, these restrictions on solitary confinement would only put the most violent offenders into isolation while rehabilitating and safeguarding the mental health of the general prison population. The United States should also attempt to have more pleasant prison environments as Solitary Watch reports that within prisoner communities at Grendon Prison in Birminghamshire, United Kingdom, “[Inmates] call staff by their first names, wear their own clothes, decorate their cells, cook and eat together, and are allowed a measure of self-governance. And while violence is not tolerated, there is no such thing as a solitary confinement cell at Grendon” (Casella). Social interactions such as those at Grendon prison are highly effective in rehabilitation and decreasing the recidivism rate. Across the United Kingdom, “there is a 24% reoffending rate; at Grendon it is 8%”
Introduction
It would be an understatement to say that there are no problems in the American criminal justice system. A plethora of these problems stem from the way suspects and convicted criminals are treated in jails. Many guards lack appropriate training to handle inmates who have been diagnosed with mental illnesses; therefore, a myriad of the incarcerated are put into solitary confinement, resulting in irreversible mental and physical trauma. Solitary confinement increases and intensifies both the prevalence of mental and physical illness in prisoners as well as the recidivism rates of prisoners subject …show more content…
In order to properly rehabilitate prisoners, solitary confinement should be used in extreme cases only. A Department of Justice study led by former Attorney General Loretta Lynch indicates that isolation “should be used rarely, applied fairly, and subjected to reasonable constraints. The … best practices include housing inmates in the least restrictive settings necessary to ensure … that restrictions on an inmate’s housing serve a specific penological purpose and are imposed for no longer than necessary to achieve that purpose” (“U.S. Department of Justice”). Another study by the same office proposed reforms to solitary confinement which include “expanding treatment of those with mental illness, increasing the amount of time inmates spend out of their cells, and ensuring inmates are not released into communities directly from solitary confinement” (“The President’s Role”). If implemented, these restrictions on solitary confinement would only put the most violent offenders into isolation while rehabilitating and safeguarding the mental health of the general prison population. The United States should also attempt to have more pleasant prison environments as Solitary Watch reports that within prisoner communities at Grendon Prison in Birminghamshire, United Kingdom, “[Inmates] call staff by their first names, wear their own clothes, decorate their cells, cook and eat together, and are allowed a measure of self-governance. And while violence is not tolerated, there is no such thing as a solitary confinement cell at Grendon” (Casella). Social interactions such as those at Grendon prison are highly effective in rehabilitation and decreasing the recidivism rate. Across the United Kingdom, “there is a 24% reoffending rate; at Grendon it is 8%”