Solitary Confinement and the effects it has on a person's mental state.

What is Solitary confinement? “Solitary confinement is a form of imprisonment in which an inmate is isolated from any human contact, often with the exception of members of prison staff, for 22–24 hours a day, with a sentence ranging from days to decades. It has also been called prison "'segregation” and “restrictive housing.'"(American Friends Service Committee).

Many times when corrections officials talk about solitary confinement, they describe it as the “prison within a prison”. This is because for 23 hours a day, inmates are kept inside a cell that is approximately 80 square feet, this can best be compared to the size of a horse stable. Cells include a bed, sink and toilet. Food is handed to them through a slot in the door, and each day inmates are only allowed one hour of exercise, in a cage.

When solitary confinement originated a typical stay used to only last a few days, or several weeks in more extreme cases. Today, it’s not unusual for inmates to spend months or even years at a time in solitary. Some may argue and say that this form of punishment helps keep prisons safe, but many psychologist say that solitary confinement can also take a heavy toll on a persons mental state.

Does solitary confinement make you crazy?

Researchers have found little to suggest that extreme isolation is good for the psyche. In one notorious study from the 1950s, University of Wisconsin psychologist Harry Harlow placed rhesus monkeys inside a custom-designed solitary chamber nicknamed “the pit of despair.” Shaped like an inverted pyramid, the chamber had slippery sides that made climbing out all but impossible. After a day or two, Harlow wrote, “most subjects typically assume a hunched position in a corner of the bottom of the apparatus. One might presume at this point that they find their situation to be hopeless.” Harlow also found that monkeys kept in isolation wound up “profoundly disturbed, given to staring blankly and rocking in place for long periods, circling their cages repetitively, and mutilating themselves.” Most readjusted eventually, but not those that had been caged the longest. “Twelve months of isolation almost obliterated the animals socially,” Harlow found.

Works Cited

NA “Solitary confinement facts.” American Friends Service Committee, 24 Feb. 2016, www.afsc.org/resource/solitary-confinement-facts. Web 2nd November 2017

NA “What Does Solitary Confinement Do To Your Mind?” PBS, Public Broadcasting Service, www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/what-does-solitary-confinement-do-to-your-mind/. Web 2nd November 2017