Solitary Confinement Has Negative Implications on Prisoners (Essay Sample)

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Solitary Confinement Has Negative Implications on Prisoners
Introduction
It is approximated that close to 80,000 American prisoners are currently under lock up in a segregated housing unit. The solitary confinement that one undergoes in such units has a lot of negative implications among them adverse psychological effects which can be eminent in less than two weeks. The social isolation that the brain undergoes to some extent can be regarded as inhuman calling for the fact that the conditions which make up segregated house units should be reviewed. All the results that are recorded from such scenarios should be even considered as torture basing on the fact that it has significant effects on the brain.
Solitary Confinement Has Negative Implications on Prisoners
There has been no precise definition for solitary confinement, but many have come to the agreement that it is a situation where an inmate is held in isolation and away from the rest of the prisoners. It is believed that it usually occurs for at least 22 hours a day. In some cases, prisoners under solitary confinement can be allowed close to an hour for exercise for like an hour each day. However, meaningful contact is reduced to very minimal scenarios. In almost all cases, prisoners who have been subjected to these conditions are deprived of basic stimulus which is usually characterized by very rare or no social contacts at all.
Reports based on testimonies have pointed to the fact that voluntary segregation is done in special housing which can be compared to the size of a bathroom where individuals are held for 23 hours or even more per day (Arrigo et al. 633). The rooms are lit by fluorescent lights which are never shut off. When one is in administrative segregation, video surveillance is constant and at not point do they stop monitoring the feeds from the room. It is during all these times that all the social contacts are very minimal where one cannot be in a position to see even the fellow prisoners. They only have contact with the guards and in rare cases accorded with video conferences with their families. For stimulation purposes, they are given access to some few books and often have no televisions in the rooms.
The horrific scenarios are usually felt by those individuals who have endured the conditions. The Kaleif Browder story is a clear depiction of what the conditions are in solitary confinement. Th 16-year-old had been falsely accused of stealing a backpack in the year 2010 while on his way home after a party in the Bronx. He ended up spending three years in Rikers Island jail where for most of his time in prison, he served in solitary confinement before finally being cleared of his charges after they were dropped (Smith 476). He was subjected to solitary confinement when he was 17 years of age where he stayed for close to 300 days or even more. Basing on the fact that he was still a child his brain had not fully developed. The experience he went through is well known to the public, and there were chances that he would eventually experience a permanent brain damage. The experience, especially for a young man, is so dramatic, and the situations here are so horrific even if one had been convicted of the crime. It even becomes worse when he is finally released since the charges were dropped.
For prisoners in both small and medium security jails, they are usually thrown to these cells for just a few days. On the other hand, those in maximum prisons experience longer term where some face these conditions for up to five years. Prisoners in some cases have been held in solitary confinement for even decades. In most American prisons, solitary confinement is the order of the day, and most view it as normal.
There are no precise statistics regarding those being held in isolation, but as per recent studies that were conducted in 2011, approximately 20,000 to 25,000 prisoners in the United States took place in such conditions. As per Keim, California holds up to 4500 inmates in solitary confinement. He further goes on to put it clear that close to 80,000 prisoners have been detained in this conditions across the United States. These numbers render the United States to be having the largest number of those in solitary confinement.
Human beings are social beings, and the moment they are not in a position to mingle with the rest or other parties, their brains are likely to decay (Haney 136). When there is nothing to do, there are high chances that the brain atrophies, and whenever there is no chance to see in the distance, the vision eventually fades. When one is kept in isolation, one is likely to lose control and even breed anger which is usually accompanied by both anxiety and hopelessness. It is pretty clear that solitary confinement is capable of completely destroying people who play the part of human beings. Studies that have been conducted by individuals such as Sharon Shalev and Peter Smith have agreed with the fact that the typical symptoms are in a position to tamper with the traits associated with normal human beings. Instead, it comes with very negative implications which mess up the lives of those who may be in solitary confinement.
Anxiety, anger, cognitive disturbances, depression, and even perceptual distortions are some of the issues that come up as a result of subjecting ordinary human beings to solitary confinement. The loss of the ability to even feel a thing at any given time is one thing that none may be wanted to be associated with. Some even show signs of paranoia and even psychosis where there are experiences of recurrent thoughts which are in most cases associated with violence and even vengeful characters. Self-harm is another aspect where one may subject him/herself to self-mutilations, or even some in most cases attempt to take away their lives.
For California alone, research has shown that prisoners are 33 times more in a position which can lead them to commit suicide. It is even worrying from the fact that one is likely to experience severe damage to the brain when they are even confined for just 15 days. Most face irreversible psychological harm. It is even pretty clear that in some cases the negative signs are recorded even earlier. However, it is still paramount that individuals who are subjected to such conditions are likely to face significant health conditions.
It is approximated that it is between 8 percent and 19 percent of the American prisoners usually end up with major psychiatric conditions or even functional disabilities (Haney 66). Another 15 percent to 20 percent will h...