(This essay was written during my senior year of high school as an assignment for Introduction to College Writing)
The United States’ justice system is facing a nationwide epidemic with the usage of solitary confinement. The state of New York is beginning to take steps to completely remove the practice from its correctional facilities. Public opinion of the banning is divided. Many see the use of solitary as a necessary evil to aid the rehabilitation of prisoners and to separate violent and nonviolent inmates. These individuals, along with prison guards, fear that the banning of the isolation unit will cause violence amongst the general population to increase. Other states such as Maine and Mississippi have significantly reduced the usage of solitary confinement without an increase in prisoner violence. This has led many people to question the effectiveness of the “hole,” including the Editorial Board of The New York Times, who believes the use of solitary is never effective at affecting a convict’s behavior in a positive way. Although the use of solitary confinement can be useful in certain scenarios, the isolation unit is never beneficial in aiding the rehabilitation of inmates into functioning members of society.
Across the state of New York, thirty-eight hundred inmates are being held against their will in an eighty square-foot cell for twenty-three hours a day as a form of rehabilitation. The purpose of solitary confinement is meant to give individuals time to dwell on their actions, and how they can better themselves moving forward; even if it breaks their morale in the process. The New York Times conveys this through a 2014 article, “New York Rethinks Solitary Confinement,” “Inmates placed in solitary confinement were nearly seven times as likely to harm themselves as those in the general jail population.” By stating this, the editorial board expresses that the isolation unit is doing more harm than good. Solitary confinement displays that the damage is not only being inflicted mentally but physically as well. During the rehabilitation, inmates begin to experience mental breakdowns. Most convicts assume a hunched position in one of the four corners of the cell. They believe that their situation is hopeless and they are never going to be free from the prison of their mind. The New York Times also displays an emotional connection to the isolation unit by stating the effects of solitary confinement were “pronounced among juveniles and the severely mentally ill.” (Board, The Editorial. “New York Rethinks Solitary Confinement.”) This conveys that regular inmates are not the only people being sent into isolation. Younger people, who can still be set on the right path to prevent future instances of crime, along with the mentally ill, who struggle with controlling their impulses, are also being sent to solitary confinement as a form of disciplinary rehabilitation. The statement shows that solitary confinement is not restricted by age. Prison officials send any inmate into isolation, regardless of their age, mental disorders, and how it can impact their behavior in the future. The disadvantages far outweigh the benefits of the isolation unit.
The topic of solitary confinement is not only publicly scrutinized in the United States, but also in various other nations across the world who see its usage as a human rights violation. The New York Times supports this idea by stating, “This will come as no surprise to most other advanced nations, where solitary confinement is used sparingly, if at all. A 2011 United Nations report called for the banning of the practice in all but extraordinary circumstances, and even then only for a maximum of 15 days.” (Board, The Editorial. “New York Rethinks Solitary Confinement.”) This displays the impact solitary confinement has had not only on the United States but on the rest of the world as well. The idea that the United Nations is calling for the banning of the practice expresses that the issue is not a just form of rehabilitation or housing of criminals, the isolation unit a violation of human rights that will only worsen over time if nothing is done to stop it.
The New York Times is effective in raising awareness regarding solitary confinement as a human rights violation, yet the article lacks an alternative solution to the issue. The editorial board presents various reasons why the use of the isolation unit should be banned across all of the world’s correctional facilities but does not suggest how inmates can be rehabilitated in a more effective manner. The article also has a deficit of emotional impact. Instead of interviewing convicts who have experienced the horrors of solitary confinement first hand, they use studies conducted by doctors who have made observations relating to inmates’ behavior. Utilizing convict’s experiences would aid in expressing what prisoners experience while in isolation. What they went through would give readers insight into their minds make an emotional connection to solitary confinement. It would also make individuals more passionate about the banning and removal of the practice across the world, thus leading to the extermination of the monstrosity that is solitary confinement.
Although penitentiaries are built to rehabilitate and house criminals across the world, they are doing more harm than good with the use of solitary confinement. The isolation unit’s purpose is to aid individuals in becoming functioning members of society who can interact with other human beings without feeling the need to inflict violence upon them, yet it is doing the opposite of its intention. The practice is damaging the individuals placed inside of it rather than mentally healing them. Solitary aids in the psychological downfall of inmates instead of giving them time to dwell on their actions. The use of solitary confinement is in no shape or form beneficial to those who are housed in it. The practice should be banned not only in the United States but throughout the rest of the world as well.