Adrian Villafuerte

Joel Lindsey
English 201
5/10/16
Abolition of Solitary Confinement
Have you ever wondered what it feels like to be alone for years?
The rise of mass incarceration not only created a problem that needs
to be addressed but also exacerbated existing ones such as the issue
of solitary confinement. In solitary confinement, prisoners are kept in
small rooms for 22 to 24 hours a day lasting from days, months to
years with little to no human interaction. According to a national
survey done by The Arthur Liman Public Interest Program at Yale Law
School and the Association of State Correctional Administrators (ASCA),
numbers reaching up to 100,000 inmates were being held in solitary
confinement two years ago in 2014. (Baumgartel et al., 2015) With
mass incarceration effectively still in play, that number could have only
increased and will continue to increase without reformation of the
practice. Due to the dangerous health conditions, lack of effectiveness
as well as high expense, solitary confinement needs to be abolished
from the United States as well as other penal systems around the
world.
Firstly, solitary confinement comes with a number of
consequential and dangerous health effects. In a review of history and

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literature done by Danish senior researcher, Peter Scharff Smith states,

Solitary confinement produces a higher rate of psychiatric and

psychological health problems than normal imprisonment. (476)
Being confined alone in a room with no human interaction and being
deprived use of ones senses for an extended period of time will
eventually take a toll on an individuals mental health. For instance,
according to psychiatrist, Stuart Grassian, who has studied and
interviewed hundreds of prisoners in solitary, inmates begin to develop
a psychiatric syndrome most closely related to Delirium in which the
inmates experience hypersensitivity to stimuli, hallucinations, panic
attacks, paranoia, lack of impulse control and concentration and many
more. (335) While not only limited to the prison environment, this is
particularly accurate for those locked up in solitary confinement.
Unless the Criminal Justice systems goal is to transform human beings
into delirious and mentally ill individuals, the use of solitary
confinement should be prohibited.
Being locked up in solitary also affects a persons body. Despite
popular belief, the negative health effects of solitary confinement are
not limited to mental effects but also bodily ones too. Multiple studies
have suggested that while psychological effects are more predominant
in solitary confinement, negative physical effects exist as well. The list
of symptoms includes severe headaches, heart palpitations, abdomen
and muscle pain, diarrhea, weight loss and dizziness. (Smith 489) It

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may come as a surprise to many that these symptoms exist. While
they do not sound as severe, keep in mind that people in isolation are
often neglected and are given no means to treat these conditions. This
further adds to the misery for a person in solitary confinement.
The effects of solitary confinement can impact an individual in a
short amount of time. Due to the severity of these physiological and
psychological effects, it is easy for one to assume that in order to begin
experiencing adverse health effects, a prisoner must be in solitary for
quite some time. However, this is not the case. Research and studies
show that inmates begin to develop psychiatric symptoms within just a
few days. For example, the Danish senior researcher, Peter Scharff
Smith, has made a conclusion that though reactions vary between
individuals, negative (sometimes severe) health effects can occur after
only a few days of solitary confinement. The health risk rises for each
additional day in solitary confinement. (495) In addition, a study done
in Zurich, Switzerland compared the average times it took for solitary
prisoners and non-solitary prisoners until they were sent to the
hospital. They found that on average, it took solitary confinement
prisoners 86 days to be hospitalized as suppose to 173 days by nonsolitary confinement detainees. (Smith 476) While prison systems
should not be causing hospitalizations of prisoners, this data further
suggests the dangers involved with the use of solitary confinement.
The idea that inmates can begin to develop symptoms in a brief

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amount of time is not only shocking but also frightening. One can only
imagine the pain and suffering the thousands of people have
experienced that have been locked up in solitary for years.
Segregation in prisons increases the likelihood of a prisoner to
harm oneself. With the topic of mental illness caused by solitary
confinement, it is difficult to avoid the discussion of its relationship
with self-harm. William Blake, a former convict who spent 25 years in
solitary, talks about the agony he experienced. He concluded, Had I
known in 1987 that I would spend the next quarter-century in solitary
confinement, I would have certainly killed myself. (Krumboltz) In an
environment where suicide is already the leading cause of death,
accounting for about one-third of inmate death since the year 2000,
(Noonan 2015) solitary confinement greatly increases the chances of a
prisoner inflicting harm to themselves and in some cases take their
own life. The study Solitary Confinement and Risk of Self-Harm Among
Jail Inmates by Fatos Kaba provides useful information. Kaba states,
We found that acts of self-harm were strongly associated with
assignment of inmates to solitary confinement. Inmates punished by
solitary confinement were approximately 6.9 times as likely to commit
acts of self-harm after we controlled for the length of jail stay, SMI, age,
and race/ethnicity. (445) Additionally, in the Indiana Department of
Corrections, the rate of suicides in segregation was almost three times
that of other housing units. (The Dangerous Overuse of Solitary

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Confinement in the United States, 2014) While the direct cause for
higher self-harm and suicide rates are unknown, it is most likely
connected to the psychiatric effects that inmates experience. For
example, in one of Grassians interviews with an inmate experiencing
problems with impulse control, the individual states, "I cut my wrists
many times in isolation. Now it seems crazy. But every time I did it, I
wasn't thinking-lost control - cut myself without knowing what I was
doing." (336) With the overwhelming studies and findings that directly
link solitary confinement to self-harm many continue to question the
United States government. Based on the governments lack of action,
the issue of suicide seems to only matter outside prison walls.
For those prisoners who survive isolation, evidence has been
found suggesting that the effects of solitary confinement do not end at
release but is prevalent long after. Grassian further noticed after
studying the behaviors of both prisoners years after their release as
well as prisoners of war camps decades after theirs, that many of them
posses personality changes that greatly hinder his or her ability to
socially interact with others. He states, These individuals had become
strikingly socially impoverished and experienced intense irritation with
social interaction, patterns dramatically different from their functioning
prior to solitary confinement. (353) While individuals who suffer from
these personality changes are physically out of solitary confinement,
its effects will haunt them for years or sometimes decades after their

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release. For example, in an interview done by Aviva Stahl with Ray Luc
Levasseur, a man who has spent over 15 years in isolation, talks about
how his time in isolation continues to affects his life. He states, The
residue of that never completely leaves you, it never does, and it never
will. (1) Finally, in a review done by Tracy Hresko of Pace University
School of Law, she cites former Supreme Court Justice, Samuel
Freeman Miller as he talks about individuals after solitary confinement.
He concluded that of those prisoners who adjusted to life after solitary
positively and have not become violently insane or have committed
suicide, most of them were not able to sufficiently recover mentally to
be of any service to the community. (7) In a society where it is already
difficult for former convicts to live a normal life, in which they are
placed into an social class where the possibility of landing a job or
pursuing education is slim to none, having a social disadvantage
caused by solitary confinement in addition, completely destroys an
individuals potential from achieving any success. For this reason, one
can conclude that solitary confinement is not just prison but also a life
sentence.
In the topic of post-solitary confinement, links have been found
in relation to higher recidivism. The act of reoffending or recidivating is
common among convicts. It is even greater for those who have been in
solitary. One study in Florida prisons show that 24.2 percent of inmates
held in solitary confinement were reconvicted of a violent crime as

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supposed to 20.5 percent in the general prison population. (Gordon
521) In addition, a similar study of 7,248 prisoners from solitary in
Washington State was done and concluded that not only was
recidivism higher but the felonies happened much sooner compared to
general prisoners. (Gordon 521) This is yet another reason as to how
solitary confinement can attributes to a life sentence. With a
conviction record and difficulties with social interactions, how can one
escape?
The use of Solitary confinement in the United States is
considered as a form of torture and violates international and
constitutional law. The primary purpose of the United States penal
system is to punish offenders and lawbreakers. However, there is a
clear and distinct difference between punishment and torture. The
United Nations Convention Against Torture (CAN) defines torture in four
elements. First, the act must constitute mental and/or physical pain.
Second, it must be intentional. Third, the perpetrator must have a
specific objective for causing the pain. Lastly, it needs to be done with
knowledge of a public official. (Hresko 19-21) In the fashion that the
United States penal institutions use solitary confinement, there is no
question that it classifies as torture. As of now, isolation is known to
bring severe psychological pain due to its prolonged use, intended to
use as a form of punishment and is happening with knowledge of U.S.
officials. With that being said, not only does solitary confinement in the

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U.S. violate international guidelines but also contravenes parts of the
constitution. For example, the eighth amendment of the constitution
states, Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines
imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted. While not
accepted as cruel by supreme court standards, solitary confinement
is seen as cruel by not only the people of the United States but also
other nations. Based on the Convention Against Tortures criteria for
torture and the studies and findings of the associated psychological
damage, solitary confinement is not only cruel but also inhumane. The
U.S. government is in need of a reality check as to what it can and
cannot do to its prisoners. Doctor of Law, Elizabeth Vasiliades, said it
best. The United States cannot, as a matter of legal principle nor from
an international policy perspective, pick and choose the human rights
it decides to uphold. (98)
Solitary confinement not only dents the United States legal
credibility but its funds as well. The truth is, solitary confinement is
expensive. Due to its structure and its great demand of staffing,
supermax prisons, the epitome of solitary confinement, costs hundreds
of millions of dollars to be built, ran and maintained. For example,
Pelican Bay State Prison in California cost 230 million dollars to
construct or 217,803 dollars per cell and 180 million dollars annually to
maintain. With the amount of money spent on this single institution, it
is easy to make the assumption that it will house thousands of

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inmates. However this is not true since Pelican Bay State Prison houses
just a little over one thousand inmates. (Rodriguez) On the individual
scale, the cost to house an inmate in a supermax prison is significantly
higher than it is to house non-supermax inmate. For example, One
study estimated that the average per-cell cost of housing an inmate in
a supermax prison is $75,000, as opposed to $25,000 for an inmate in
the general population. (Rodriguez) With so many issues and
expenses the U.S. government is responsible for, many will agree that
abolition of solitary confinement and allocation of the taxpayers
money away from the penal system more specifically, supermax prison
funding, will help the nation to address more important issues.
Despite the known facts about solitary confinement, some
people continue to believe that it should be kept in U.S. penal systems
for its violence reducing purposes. The modern day version of solitary
confinement originated from Pennsylvania model in the 1820s in
which its initial purpose was to give prisoners isolation as a means of
rehabilitation in order to repent his/her crimes and return to society as
a morally cleansed character. Now, solitary confinement is mainly used
either as a tool for discipline or a way to reduce prison violence. On
paper, it makes sense that placing the most violent prisoners in
solitary will reduce the amount of violence in prisons since they cannot
commit violent acts towards other inmates when they are secluded.
However, there are several reasons as to why this is false. First, this

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idea implies that the most violent prisoners are the ones in isolation
when this is not the case. In fact, according to one study, 35 percent of
Arizonas maximum-security prisoners in solitary were convicted of
non-violent crimes. (Gordon 514) Secondly, there is overwhelming
evidence that show increase use of solitary confinement also increases
prison violence. For instance, the rate of violent incidence in California
increased by 20 percent after the implementation of Pelican Bay
supermax prison. Furthermore, in the mid-2000s Mississippi State
Penitentiary at Parchman experienced a 50 percent decrease in
violence after transferring 75 percent of its solitary detainees into
areas such as general prison population. (Gordon 515) Solitary
confinement supporters can argue all they want however it is hard to
go against empirical data. Simply put, solitary confinement is an
ineffective way to reduce violence in prisons and serves no purpose in
the U.S. penal system.
It is clear that the U.S. Criminal Justice System is flawed and will
take many reformations to be corrected. The abolition of solitary
confinement from the United States prison system is an action that
needs to happen soon as it serves little to no purpose. Since the day it
began, it has only negative accomplishments some of which include,
causing excruciating mental pain in individuals, preventing individuals
from returning to a normal life, wasted tax dollars, increased violence
and recidivism and caused thousands of people to take their lives. As

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fellow human beings, we have the obligation to help those who are in
need. Help those isolated and are denied of their basic human rights.
Put an end to solitary confinement.

Works Cited
Shira E. Gordon, Solitary Confinement, Public Safety, and Recdivism, 47
U. Mich. J. L. Reform 495 (2014). Available at:
http://repository.law.umich.edu/mjlr/vol47/iss2/6
Smith, Peter Scharff. The Effects of Solitary Confinement on Prison
Inmates: A Brief History and Review of the Literature. Crime and
Justice 34.1 (2006): 441528. Web...
Stuart Grassian, Psychiatric Effects of Solitary Confinement, 22 WASH.
U. J. L. & POLY 325 (2006),
http://openscholarship.wustl.edu/law_journal_law_policy/vol22/iss
1/24

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Kaba, Fatos et al. Solitary Confinement and Risk of Self-Harm Among
Jail Inmates. American Journal of Public Health 104.3 (2014):
442447. PMC. Web. 10 May 2016.
Tracy Hresko, In the Cellars of the Hollow Men: Use of Solitary
Confinement in U.S. Prisons and Its Implications Under
International Laws against Torture, 18 Pace Int'l L. Rev. 1 (2006)
Available at: http://digitalcommons.pace.edu/pilr/vol18/iss1/1
Vasiliades, Elizabeth. "Solitary Confinement and International Human
Rights: Why the U.S. Prison System Fails Global Standards."
American University International Law Review 21, no.1 (2005):
71-99.
Baumgartel, Sarah. "Time-In-Cell: The ASCA-Liman 2014 National
Survey of Administrative Segregation in Prison."
Www.law.yale.edu. 31 Aug. 2015. Web.
Krumboltz, Mike. "After 25 Years in Solitary Confinement, a Prisoner
Explains What It's like." After 25 Years in Solitary Confinement, a
Prisoner Explains What It's like. 15 Mar. 2013. Web. 10 May 2016.
Rodriguez, Sal. The High Cost of News from a Nation in Lockdown
Solitary Confinement. Rep. Solitary Watch, 2011. Web.
Stahl, Aviva. ""This Draconian System of Punishment and Abuse": An
Interview with Ray Luc Levasseur." Solitary Watch. 27 Nov. 2013.
Web. 10 May 2016.

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The Dangerous Overuse of Solitary Confinement in the United States.
Issue brief. ACLU, Aug. 2014. Web.