Prior to reading this article, I hadn't realized the strongly dehumanizing effects of solitary confinement. It has never occurred to me that imprisonment is not only obviously oppressive, but it can also force convicts to lose a sense of self. Reading this article brought to light the devastating effects of isolation.
The author of the article explains that solitary confinement has gone from being a form of punishment appropriate for the crime, to being a form convenient way to prevent any communication between inmates. Because it is not considered punishment, it cannot be considered "cruel and unusual punishment". The sense I got from the article was strikingly similar to the mental symptoms of experiencing something as tragic as war. Solitary confinement can therefore have the same effects as PTSD.
The article states that the people who end up in isolation are often the most mentally unstable ones, or the perceived troublemakers and gang members. Gang members are placed in isolation often in hopes that when released, they will then "debrief", or rat out fellow gang members. Although I understand the importance of controlling gangs, it's sad that the only way to do this is to force members so far over the edge of sanity that they go against everything they are so invested in.
These convicts commonly suffer from serious effects on their mental health after and during isolation, including hallucinations, paranoia, and delusions. But again, the strangest effect is the loss of their sense of self. The article quotes one inmate who explains that because he is only seen "at the end of a chain", it is inevitable that he is considered nothing more than a dog. The author was able to make me sympathize with these inmates by obviously sharing his opinion throughout the article, and avoiding talking about the pros of solitary confinement.
1 comment:
I had always known that solitary confinement was a very hard thing to endure but I never knew that they did it to certain people to make them "debrief" that is just disgusting. I also find it interesting how usually the most mentally unstable inmates are confined to solitary. That just seems monstrous. Trying to break a human being in general is disgusting let alone trying to break one that is already on the verge of mental collapse.
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