Negative Effects Of Solitary Confinement

suicide in which he/she is given additional psychiatric attention, prohibits the establishment of prison gangs, and gives the prison officials the opportunity to use solitary confinement as a form of deterrence by intimidating inmates to change their disruptive behaviors. On the contrary, Mears notes several negative unanticipated effects of solitary confinement onto the inmates. The basic ideology is that the threat of solitary confinement will lessen an inmate’s disciplinary violations. However, while in confinement some inmates suffered from psychological aggravations and became increasingly violent and aggressive towards other inmates and the prison staff (Daniel Mears, 2006).
In addition, solitary confinement has significant negative …show more content…
Cockrell in his Law and Psychology Review, Solitary Confinement: the Law Today and the Way Forward, the inmates suffer from both physical and psychological symptoms of serious headaches, chest pains, weight loss, hallucinations, confusion, memory loss, anxiety, depression, anger, insomnia, and thoughts about attempting suicide (John F. Cockrell, 2013). For example, in August 2005, Stephen Slevin was driving his friend’s vehicle in New Mexico, when he was arrested for a DWI and driving a presumed stolen vehicle. Slevin failed to get a trial and was immediately put into solitary confinement upon his imprisonment, when a prison official believed him to be suicidal. Slevin under confinement suffered several amounts of psychological and physical abuse as he fell into an immense amount of mental depression, …show more content…
In most cases the isolated individual is deprived of any form of interaction with fellow prisoners, and sometimes with family and friends through restrictions on visits. Social learning theories highlight the importance of social contact with others not just for pleasure and play but for the individual’s very sense of ‘self’ which is shaped and maintained through social interactions. Social contact is crucial for forming perceptions, concepts, interpreting reality and providing support. Deprived of meaningful and sympathetic social contact and interaction with others, the prisoner in solitary confinement may withdraw and regress. Even when isolated prisoners do not show any obvious symptoms, upon release from isolation they can become uncomfortable in social situations and avoid them, with negative consequences for subsequent social functioning in both the prison community and the outside community, again undermining the likelihood of successful resettlement” - Haney, Craig. (The health Effects of Solitary Confinement, Chapter Two, pg