Solitary confinement in the United States
In the United States penal system, upwards of 20 percent of state and federal prison inmates and 18 percent of local jail inmates are kept in solitary confinement or another form of restrictive housing at some point during their imprisonment.[1] Solitary confinement (sometimes euphemistically called protective custody, punitive segregation (PSEG) or room restriction) generally comes in one of two forms: "disciplinary segregation," in which inmates are temporarily placed in solitary confinement as punishment for rule-breaking; and "administrative segregation," in which prisoners deemed to be a risk to the safety of other inmates, prison staff, or to themselves are placed in solitary confinement for extended periods of time, often months or years.[2]
Solitary confinement first arose in the United States in the 1700s among religious groups like the Quakers, who thought isolation with a Bible would lead to repentance and rehabilitation. The practice expanded significantly in the nineteenth century, when it was viewed as a humane alternative to prevailing methods of punishment like public floggings. However, by the early 1900s it had largely passed into disuse due to its high cost and the view that it was unethical. It would return as a common form of incarceration during the tough on crime political period in the 1980s and 1990s.[3]
Today, solitary confinement is a controversial form of punishment that studies suggest has long-lasting detrimental effects on inmates' psychological health.[4] Prison officials argue that solitary confinement is a necessary method of separating violent prisoners from the general population, separating vulnerable inmates (such as juveniles) from other inmates, and punishing prisoners who attempt to cause riots or try to escape. Critics argue that it is a cruel form of punishment which has been demonstrated to have long-lasting negative psychological effects on inmates (with some critics further contending that long-term solitary confinement is a form of torture[4][5]) and is an unnecessary method of sequestering violent or vulnerable inmates, who can be safely separated through more humane means. Court cases arguing that solitary confinement violates the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution's ban on cruel and unusual punishment have had mixed success, with solitary confinement found to constitute cruel and unusual punishment when applied to mentally ill inmates but deemed permissible for sane adults.
History[edit]
The penal system in the United States developed under two separate systems known as the Auburn system and Pennsylvania system.[6] The current system of solitary confinement was derived originally from the Pennsylvania model which was characterized by "isolation and seclusion."[6] Evidence has shown that Quakers and Calvinists supported solitary confinement as an alternative form of punishment. At the time it was meant to provide a prisoner with solitude "to reflect on his misdeeds" and restore his relationship with God.[6][7] Solitary confinement was intended as an alternative to public floggings which were common at the time. In 1818, New York reformer and Friend, Thomas Eddy, lobbied for inmate labor and solitary confinement in place of other forms of punishment such as hanging. Shortly after, New York decided to include solitary confinement and inmate labor into their penal system.[8]
In the United States federal prison system, solitary confinement is known as the Special Housing Unit (SHU),[9] pronounced like "shoe" (/ʃuː/). California's prison system also uses the abbreviation SHU, but it stands for Security Housing Units.[10] In Oregon, solitary confinement units are known as Intensive Management Units (IMUs), while in Pennsylvania, they are Restricted Housing Units (RHUs).[11] According to a 2023 report from Solitary Watch and Unlock the Box, it is estimated that more than 122,000 individuals are held in solitary confinement in state and federal prisons and local jails on any given day.[12]
The inmate held in solitary confinement for the longest time in U.S. federal prison was Thomas Silverstein, held in solitary confinement at the ADX Florence federal penitentiary in Colorado.[13][14] beginning in 1983. Silverstein died in late May 2019.[15] The inmate held in solitary confinement for the longest time in the United States is Albert Woodfox, the last of the Angola Three, in solitary in Louisiana State Penitentiary from 1972 to 2016.[16] A May 2013 report on California's Pelican Bay State Prison in Mother Jones magazine also cites one inmate there who "recently marked his 40th year in solitary".[17]
Black and Latino Americans[edit]
Solitary confinement has been shown to disproportionately affect people of color. In particular, Black and Latino individuals are placed in solitary at rates far higher than their white counterparts. A 2019 Correctional Leaders Association/Yale Law School study found that Black women make up 21.5% of the United States female prison population, but 42.1% of the U.S. female prison population held in solitary.[24] Another study published in Science Advances found that 11% of all Black men born in Pennsylvania between 1986 and 1989 had been held in solitary by the age of 32. The study also found that Black and Latino men in the state were 8.2 and 2.5 times more likely to be held in solitary than white men, respectively.[25]
Juveniles[edit]
Juveniles are held in solitary confinement in jails and prisons across the United States, often for days, weeks, months, or even years.[26]: 2 There is significant controversy surrounding the use of solitary confinement in the case of juveniles.
The effects of solitary confinement on juveniles can be highly detrimental to their growth and development. The isolation of solitary confinement can cause extreme anguish and provoke severe mental and physical health problems.[26]: 77 Because young people are still developing, traumatic experiences like solitary confinement may have a profound negative effect on their rehabilitation.[26]
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Human Rights Watch created a report that incorporated the testimony of some juvenile inmates. Many interviewees described how their placement in solitary confinement exacerbated the stresses of being in jail or prison. Many spoke of harming themselves with staples, razors, even plastic eating utensils, having hallucinations, losing touch with reality, and having thoughts of or attempting suicide – all this while having extremely limited access to health care.[26]: 29–35 [27]
Juveniles in solitary confinement are routinely denied access to treatment, services, and programming required to meet their medical, psychological, developmental, social, and rehabilitative needs.[26]: 3, 92
Scrutiny and criticism[edit]
Psychological effects[edit]
It has been shown that solitary confinement has severe mental and psychological effects on prisoners.[6] Prisoners in SHUs are isolated for long periods of time. Instances of assault and torture against these prisoners in response to trivial things have also been cited.[6] Social isolation housing can reduce environmental stimulation and causes a feeling of loss of control over all aspects of a prisoner's daily life. These environmental risks include but are not limited to hypersensitivity to stimuli, distortions and hallucinations, increased anxiety and nervousness, diminished impulse control, severe and chronic depression, appetite loss and weight loss, heart palpitations, talking to oneself, problems sleeping, nightmares, self-mutilation, difficulties with thinking, concentration, and memory, and lower levels of brain function.[52]
Researchers at McGill University paid a group of male graduate students to stay in small chambers that were to replicate solitary confinement cells. This study was to conduct an experiment on sensory deprivation and how it can cause psychiatric disorders while in solitary confinement as people are deprived of most of their senses in there. The plan was to observe these students for six weeks, but none lasted more than seven days.[53]
From studying conditions at Pelican Bay, researchers argue that long-term social isolation "carries major psychiatric risks."[6] Prisoners are susceptible to developing mental illnesses because they are confined to coffin-like conditions and denied access to basic health services.[6] Illnesses range from anxiety, clinical depression, and self-mutilation to suicidal thoughts and SHU syndrome.[6] Yet, it is important to note that the duration of the isolation is the most important factor in determining the effects of solitary confinement.[6]
Prison violence[edit]
Kate King, professor and director of Criminal Justice at Murray State University, Benjamin Steiner, professor of Criminal Justice at the University of Cincinnati, and Stephanie Ritchie Breach, director of the Third District Youth Court, explain how while violence has always been a factor in prison life, the level of aggression is magnified in supermax prisons where all such members of the prison system are concentrated.[54] These scholars argue that the violent nature of supermax prisons such as Pelican Bay State Prison are perpetrated by prison culture itself.[54] King, Steiner, and Breach question the effectiveness of these institutions and claim the violent reputation of American prisons stems from this departure from the treatment model.[54] Supermax prisons are also scrutinized on legal and ethical bases. Scholars Jesenia Pizarro and Vanja Stenius note that the overall constitutionality of these prisons are still quite unclear.[55]
Recidivism[edit]
Shira E. Gordon, a University of Michigan Law Student, argues that solitary confinement leads to an increase in recidivism and violence. To substantiate this conclusion, she cites two quantitative research based studies that support this nexus and counters those who argue that solitary confinement deters recidivism.[18] Daniel Mears and William Bales "compared recidivism rates by matching…prisoners who were incarcerated in solitary confinement with prisoners who had been in the general prison population."[18] They found that "24.2 percent of the prisoners held in solitary confinement were reconvicted of a violent crime compared to 20.5 percent of prisoners held in population."[18] And this behavior may be attributed to the mental illnesses prisoners may develop, as well as the dehumanizing treatment they are subject to.[18]