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Solitary confinement in u.s prisons argumentative essay
Solitary confinement and its effect essay
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According to Bassett, 50% of suicides occur inside solitary confinmenet (419). Not to mention, inmates are sometimes physically abused by the guards in power. Through the Solitary Nation documentary, it is seen that guards sometimes have to use bigger forces like a toxic gas to get an inmate out of their cell. While it makes sense that guards have to do it for their own protection, there needs to be thought about why inmates do the things they do. When inmates suffer from their mental illnesses, they begin to lose their sense of reality as well as sense of right and wrong.
In his essay, “Hell Hole” Atul Gawande informs his audience how damaging solitary confinement can be to the human body and character. To make his argument he uses examples of prisoner’s solitary confinement stories and people who have been similar situations. Gawande explains to his readers the difference phases and problems the human body goes through considering the lack of human interaction. The writer makes a compelling argument that solitary confinement is detrimental to the human’s mental state and physical well-being. His argument includes impressive diction, vivid emotional appeals, and logos appeal to guide his readers through his essay.
Imagine being trapped in a damp, dark, cage as a form of punishment for something that seems completely out of your grasp. Prisons were understaffed and as barbaric as it gets the people charged with crimes were whipped. The primary cause for their creation was to keep the crooks from harming any people right? Everyone in solitary confinement is treated the same way but not everyone came for the same reason. In fact, mentally ill people were considered to be harsh maniacs which did not receive treatment for a long time.
Fathi, Director of ACLU National Prison Project talks about how it’s proven that solitary confinement leaves long lasting psychological and emotional harm. Someone with no prior history of mental illness will develop psychological symptoms if left in solitary confinement for too long. Whether someone does or does not suffer from mental illness, solitary confinement ultimately harms the person and is not a good way to take care of them. Another solution is drug courts which provides a sentencing alternative of treatment and supervision for people who have a substance abuse problem or if they have a mental disorder. Expert, John Roman, who is a research associate, suggests that having more drug courts is a good idea and will help bring the crime rate down.
Solitary confinement, in my opinion, is cruel and unusual punishment. If there was not a mental-health crisis in America, and there was in fact a rehabilitation-focused prison system, solitary confinement would be greatly reduced and used much more sparingly. What is the point of driving people to madness by putting them in isolation? It would be so much cheaper for tax payers to change the system to a more effective one that actually reduces
Major Ethical Issues of Solitary Confinement Solitary confinement can affect a person’s physical and mental health simply because it deprives an individual of their need to interact with others on a daily basis. Solitary confinement, which is used to restrain violent and volatile inmates from the general prison population, is done in increments ranging from several months to years. In an article retrieved from the American Psychological Association, ‘Alone, in ‘the Hole’’, the author states that, “for most of the 20th century, prisoners' stays in solitary confinement were relatively short.” This was the standing rule, in which inmates visited what is known as ‘the hole’, for several weeks to months. As time went by, the average length of stay
An inmate’s most important right is to have access to the courts and without that right they “have neither a forum in which to question the conditions and constitutionality of their confinement, nor an arena in which to seek vindication of other alleged rights violations” (Hinckley, 1987, p. 19). So, the foundation of other prisoners’ rights are based this right of access (Hinckley, 1987). Bounds v Smith is a very good example of where inmate fought to ensure this assess. It all began in North Carolina where inmates filed three actions alleging their 14th Amendment right were violated because of denial of access of legal help and research (Bounds v. Smith, 1977).
In Atul Gawande “ HellHole” essay they talked about the experiences and effects of people who were previously in solitary confinement. Solitary confinement can be best explained as the process of removing an individual and isolating them from their environment and socialization. Atul Gawande is specifically talking about prisoners of war and incarcerated people and how their experience was and that process. The essay talked about how people are put in isolation which caused them to act out of their character. Goffman would argue that effects of solitary confinement are exactly what total institutions can do to a person's.
There needs to be a balance between the solitary confinement and length of time that is allowed for an individual to be in isolation. When a person
It also provides support for those who believe solitary confinement should not be a punishment in jail. It has
“Solitary Confinement on Television” shows the range of how solitary confinement is covered in recent media, everything from the passing mention to the direct filming of someone in solitary. The writer approaches the article as an informative piece, to teach the parts of solitary confinement that is not broached on tv. It has the tone that media does not treat solitary to be as devastating as it is. Solitary is rarely shown on screen, only mentioned, or it is treated as joke/test of will. They want viewers to know the reality of involuntary isolation with no means of escape. Grossman gets to the crux of why solitary confinement is portrayed this way on television, TV show producers know that showing characters alone, locked in a room with
The prisoners have the right to protect their privacy within the prison cells. Guards are not allowed to enter the prisons cells without following proper protocols to do so. The eighth amendment right is the right of the prisoners living conditions such as Solitary confinement is where a violate prisoner is separated from the general prison population. Physical Abuse is when a guard or other staff uses corporal punishment for a disciplinary act among the prisoners. Deadly force in the prison is not an uncommon punishment among the inmates ( Siegel & Bartollas, 2014).
Whether that be restorative justice, rehabilitation programs, electronic ankle bracelets, or another just alternative that removes the need for solitary confinement in the first place, it is the correct solution. Although solitary confinement has caused much harm to millions of people, there are plenty of alternatives to such a cruel measure. “Through every struggle that I have been confronted with and have been subjected to - solitary confinement, long legal battles, and physically transitioning to the woman I have always been - I manage not only to survive, but to grow, learn, mature, and thrive as a better, more confident person.” (“Brainy
In my honest opinion solitary confinement in the U.S. is not justified and only does more harm than good. Not only is it a rash punishment, but it is one of the worst kinds of psychological tortures that could be inflicted upon an inmate. Human beings are undoubtedly social creatures and without the mere contact of another person the mind decays and ultimately leads a person to anger, anxiety, and hopelessness. Psychologists also claim that solitary confinement and isolation in general also cause depression or the loss of ability to have any "feelings", cognitive disturbances, such as confused thought processes and disorientation, perceptual distortions, such as hypersensitivity to noises and smells, distortions of sensations, and hallucinations affecting all five senses, as well as paranoia and psychosis which often times involve schizophrenic type symptoms, and finally, the worst of all symptoms, being self-harm such as self-mutilation, cutting and even suicide attempts.
Inmates locked in solitary confinement have attempted to commit suicide and to punish those inmates for attempting suicide they were punished with more time in solitary confinement. The correctional facility is punishing inmate for having a mental breakdown while in solitary confinement and the counter to their breakdown is to furthering their confinement. With the over use of solitary confinement, it is driving inmates to behave and respond in manners that are unusual to them. On March 19, 2013, Thomas Lynn Clements was the head of the Colorado Department of Corrections was shot and killed at his home by Evan Ebel and inmate that was once housed in Colorado prison and held in solitary confinement for 5½ of his six years. Ebel was released
