Solitary Confinement Effects

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The Effects of Solitary Confinement on Mental Illness
Latasia Warren
Tarleton State University

Abstract

When a person is confined, or locked in a single cell and being cut off with human interaction one tends to become mentally unstable or even suicidal. The practice of isolating an individual in a prison system away from general population due to a punishment in prison or jail is known as solitary confinement. When one is locked up for an unreasonable amount of time one cannot expect that person to be placed back into society and act as if they were never locked up in solitary confinement. Solitary confinement is a punishment that has been around for decades, it was put in place to help reduce the population growth …show more content…
The punishment for the broken rule could be their recreation taken away, commissary taken, or something as severe as solitary confinement. In the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, a person who is a confirmed active gang member must remain locked up in segregation until they are confirmed “X” out of the gang. Therefore, some offenders remain in solitary confinement for years at a time because of their gang affliction. The practice of solitary confinement began before the 1800s it was then done away with because it caused people to become mentally unstable. When prisons began to grow at a quicker rate than expected the practice of solitary confinement was again reintroduced to the United States prison system. The study of solitary confinement is an issue that is currently going on in the jails and prisons all over the United States. The problem with solitary confinement is the fact that one’s mental stability is in question. Another is that the study of how women are affected by solitary confinement has not been studied. Though men and women have different needs, the different needs that men and women have could possibly have an effect on the result of solitary confinement. The purpose of the study is to allow one to see the negative effects on mental illness on offenders who are locked up into solitary …show more content…
In the Texas Department of Criminal Justice Correctional Institution Division being locked up in solitary confinement is called administrative segregation. The punishment of solitary confinement began before the 1800s and was discontinued due to the offenders becoming mentally unstable from being locked down without any human interaction (Bennett, 2016). When the drug epidemic began, many people begin to go to prison more often causing the population of the prisons to increase. The increase in the prison population led to the idea of solitary confinement becoming an option as punishment again to help with the control the prison population (Bennett, 2016). Solitary confinement doesn’t change the only difference is the amount of time one spends in solitary confinement and the outcome of the individual after being released from solitary
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