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Solitary confinement, colloquially referred to in American English as "the hole", "the SHU" (pronounced 'shoe') or "the pound" (or in British English "the block"), is a punishment or special form of imprisonment in which a prisoner is denied contact with any other persons, excluding members of prison staff. Usually cited as an additional measure of protection (of society) from the criminal, it has also been called a form of torture. In some cases it is also used to protect the prisoner from otherscitation needed.
Usage and criticism
Those who accept the practice consider it necessary for prisoners who are considered dangerous to other people ('the most predatory' prisoners),1 those who might be capable of leading crime groups even from within, or those who are kept 'incommunicado' for purported reasons of national security. Finally, it may be used for prisoners who are at high risk of being attacked by other inmates, such as pedophiles or witnesses who are in prison themselves. This latter form of solitary confinement is sometimes referred to as protective custody.
In the US Federal Prison system, solitary confinement is known as the Special Housing Unit (SHU),2 pronounced ʃü. California's prison system also uses the abbreviation SHU, but it stands for Security Housing Units.3 In other states, it is known as the Special Management Unit (SMU) pronounced smü.
Opponents of solitary confinement claim that it is a form of cruel and unusual punishment4 because the lack of human contact (and the sensory deprivation that often go with solitary confinement) can have a severe negative impact on a prisoner's mental state1 that may lead to certain mental illnesses such as depression or an existential crisis.56789
Interestingly, the punishment factor of solitary seems to be lessened or even eliminated in the case of some prisoners with antisocial or sociopathic personalities. Whether this is due to the flattened emotional responses present in such cases, or the extreme detachment that typify these disorders, is currently unknown.citation needed
See also
- Amnesty International
- Imprisonment
- Protective custody
- Sensory deprivation
- Supermax
- The Box (form of solitary confinement torture using an overheated room)
References
- ^ a b Solitary Confinement Torture In The U.S. - Kerness, Bonnie; National Coordinator of the 'National Campaign to Stop Control Unit Prisons', 1998
- ^ Institution Supplement - Visiting Regulations, USP McCreary (from the Bureau of Prisons, U.S. Department of Justice website. Accessed May 1, 2008.)
- ^ Visitors, State Prison, Corcoran (CSP-COR) (from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation website. Accessed May 1, 2008.)
- ^ Trend toward solitary confinement worries experts - Tyre, Peg; U.S. News, Friday 9 January 1998
- ^ Stuart Grassian Psychiatric effects of solitary confinement (redacted, non-institution and non-inmate specific version of a declaration submitted in September 1993 in Madrid v. Gomez, 889F.Supp.1146. California, USA. Accessed 2008-06-18.)
- ^ Grassian Psychopathological effects of solitary confinement American Journal of Psychiatry Online 1983; 140: 1450-1454
- ^ Haney Mental Health Issues in Long-Term Solitary and "Supermax" Confinement, Crime Delinquency. 2003; 49: 124-156
- ^ Karen Franklin Segregation Psychosis (from the author's private website, with further references. Accessed 2008-06-18.)
- ^ Harold I. Schwartz, Death Row Syndrome and Demoralization: Psychiatric Means to Social Policy Ends J Am Acad Psychiatry Law 33:2:153-155 (2005)
Wikipedia content modification information:
- This page was last modified on 8 November 2008, at 13:08.
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