Written By: Kayla Rojas
Does solitary confinement have an effect on an individual’s psychological state? This question is controversial because of the various different viewpoints one may have. Some look at this issue with an apathetic perspective, and are indifferent about a prisoner's mental health. Others are more compassionate, and would argue that being in captivity for long hours is inhumane. Solitary confinement does indeed have a negative effect on a persons’ psyche, due to the merciless ambience of extreme isolation.
Medical News Today defines solitary confinement as, “ the physical isolation of individuals who are confined to their cells for 22.5 hours or more per day”. Prisoners in solitary either have limited contact or no contact at all with others. Inmates can spend hours, days, weeks, months, or even years in isolation. When a convict is enclosed in solitary, it can affect their mental well-being. One can experience changes in memory, learning, and emotional processing that can be attributed to an increase in chronic stress levels. Some of the outcomes are: paranoia, hallucinations, hypersensitivity to various stimuli, confusion, depression, anxiety, violence to oneself/others, etc (McCall, 2022, page 3).When a person with no preexisting mental health issues is placed in solitary confinement, eventually there will most likely be a decrease in their mental well-being. For those individuals who have preexisting mental health concerns, their condition(s) worsen. An interesting fact that I found was that scientists have concluded that the same neurochemical that is found during physical pain, is also present when an inmate is isolated and in solitary confinement (McCall, 2022, page 5). “One of the very serious psychological consequences of solitary confinement is that it renders many people incapable of living anywhere else. Then, when prisoners are released into cells or back into society, they are often overwhelmed with anxiety. They actually get to the point where they become frightened of other human beings” (Dingfelder & Haney, 2012, para. 5). Since there is a complete lack of social interactions, most prisoners find it extremely difficult to differentiate between what is real life and what is fake. Long-term isolation can lead to social withdrawals and can also lead to extreme social anxiety once they leave solitary.
Solitary Confinement has more negative outcomes than positive outcomes. Most people believe that solitary confinement violates basic human rights. Upon further research, I found that prisoners can be isolated anywhere between 22 to 24 hours everyday. These prisoners are not allowed to attend therapy sessions, rehabilitation, educational, and occupational programs. Since prisoners are isolated from the majority of the prison population when placed in solitary, there are many different ways it impacts their physical health as well. Some examples of physical effects are: headaches, body weakness, chronic fatigue, accelerated heartbeat, dizziness, and so many other side effects.
In order to get insight as to how some of the public feel about this topic, I interviewed two different people. The first person I interviewed was a 23 year old Long Island resident named Alissa. One of the first questions that I asked her was, “do you think that solitary confinement should exist the way it does now?” She responded with, “No. I do not think that it should be the way that it is now. In my opinion, I feel as if it is taking people’s basic human rights away. If you take away people’s basic rights of social interaction or certain resources that can benefit them (like therapy), it isn’t right. It is going to cause the person to be resentful. It might even lead them to do worse things after.” When I asked her how long they should change the number of hours someone should be kept in solitary for, it took her a bit to formulate an answer. Eventually she stated, “I believe that it could be lessened down to anywhere from 12 to 15 hours. However, I think prisons should be mindful of what their sentence is first. With that being said, I think they should be allowed to have time outdoors, working, getting therapy, etc. If they aren’t allowed to do it in a group setting, at least let them have access to these things. They need interaction with others”. The last question I asked was, “do you think that prisoners in solitary confinement should be given the opportunity to see psychiatrists or other professionals”? She said, “yes. I think they should be able to have psychiatric help if they need it. I think it is a basic thing that people could benefit from, even if you’re in jail. If you see that the general prison population is responding well to therapy, who’s to say that it wouldn’t help those in solitary”?
The next person I interviewed was a 72 year old grandmother in my neighborhood named Maria. I made sure to ask her the same series of questions that I asked Alissa. When I asked her if solitary confinement should exist the way it does today, she disagreed. “Personally, I do not think that it should be the way it has gotten. In my life, I have known people who have worked in prisons. They have told me the horrors of solitary confinement, and what it has done to some inmates. If I knew somebody who was placed in solitary confinement, I would worry about them”. The next question I asked her was about the time a prisoner should be held in solitary confinement. She was unsure but ultimately she had this to say, “I don’t have an exact number for you, but I don’t think it should be 22 to 24 hours. That’s absurd. I think only a few days to a week is okay. Anything more than that should not be allowed”. The last question I inquired about was if prisoners should have access to psychiatrists and other mental health professionals. “I do think that they should be allowed to speak to someone about what they are struggling with. I don’t think it is fair to them to have nobody in their corner”.
In my opinion, I do not believe that solitary confinement is a good thing for any inmate within prison. I do not think that this is a practice that should be done. Solitary confinement is not a positive thing, it causes very harmful effects to the inmates that have extremely long term effects. I believe that mental health is extremely important, regardless of one’s criminal history. These disorders that the prisoners struggle with after can affect their ability to do certain things, like interact with those around them. I believe that rehabilitation in prison is super important. If we do not give these prisoners the proper resources they need while in prison, how could we expect them to adapt into society properly? I do not believe that inmates should be kept in solitary confinement for longer than a week. There should also be clinicians available to help those in need of resources for their mental state. I also think that solitary confinement should only be allowed for extremely dangerous individuals. Sometimes there are officers who abuse their authority and place people who shouldn’t be in solitary confinement for something miniscule, and that’s unfortunate because there are horrible outcomes that can come from being in there.
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