In the past years, the United States prison system has increasingly resorted to using solitary confinement, seeing it as the “most effective way” to deal with dangerous adults and juveniles criminals. However, the conditions that prisoners have to face when sent to solitary confinement are deplorable and inhumane. Inmates in solitary confinement are locked up for about 23 hours in cells with limited space, not lights and no human contact. This practice not only affects inmates physically and emotionally, but also psychologically. In addition, the use of solitary confinement on juvenile delinquents has been proven to be psychological harmful. Empirical evidences also suggest that suicide attempts are more likely to occur among prisoners in …show more content…
Kirk Gunderson suicide’s case is a vivid example of what solitary confinement does to the mind of juveniles. Kirk Gunderson was accused of stabbing his father and brother in the state of Wisconsin. When Gunderson got to jail, he was placed in a regular cell; however, due to misbehavior, he was sent to a solitary confinement cell where he hanged himself with a jail blanket. This occurred only one hour after sent to isolation. One the floor of his cell, he left a suicide note that said: “I love you family” (Sutter, 2013). This case illustrates how inmates in isolation can loss their mind just in one hour. Sadly, Gunderson’s case is just another story of many that take place commonly among youths in …show more content…
In 2000, the researchers Andersen, H. S., Sestoft, D., Lillebaek, T., Gabrielsen, G., Hemmingsen, R., Kramp, P., conducted a study to analyze the negative effects of solitary confinement on adults and juveniles prisoners. The population for this study was 133 prisoners in solitary confinement and 95 in non-solitary. These prisoners were subjected to a longitudinal study, which involved constant surveys and observations of the prisoners. After having obtained interviews and self-reported data on solitary and non-solitary confinement inmates, researchers found that 28 percent of the prisoners in solitary confinement developed at least one type of mental disorder compared to only 15 percent of those in non-solitary confinement (p.19-25). These findings suggest that levels of stress that solitary confinement’s prisoners are subjected predispose them to devastating mental health