Date of Award
Spring 5-20-2023
Document Type
Honors Project
University Scholars Director
Christine Chaney
First Advisor/Committee Member
Phillip Baker
Keywords
Solitary confinment, health, isolation, incarceration, bioethics, social, humanity
Abstract
This paper will define and examine the use of solitary confinement within the United States prison system and review its mental, physical, and social impacts. As social creatures, human mental and physical well-being depends on meaningful social interactions absent in segregation units. As it currently stands, vulnerable populations, including racial minorities, LGBTQIA+ individuals, and those with developmental disabilities or psychological disorders, are at risk of irrevocable harm and abuse within these facilities from staff as well as other inmates. With a rotating 80,000 inmates held in solitary confinement every day, the current structure of the prison system deemphasizes rehabilitation and favors unjust and unnecessary punishment. The topic of solitary confinement cannot be explored through science alone but through an interdisciplinary literature review of primary sources in physiology, neurobiology, psychology, law, sociology, political science, and history. With this approach, proper attention can also be given to the experiences of those caught in this system. The overwhelming evidence of the inefficacy of solitary confinement as a method to solve the institutionally created issue of mass incarceration further punctuates the need for policy reform and systematic change against the root causes of exploitation and punitive segregation.
Recommended Citation
Austin, Julia, "Social Creatures: The Impact of Solitary Confinement on Psychophysiological Health and How Inmates Percieve Their Humanity and Social Well-Being" (2023). Honors Projects. 198.
https://digitalcommons.spu.edu/honorsprojects/198
Copyright Status
http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC-RUU/1.0/
Additional Rights Information
Copyright held by author.
Included in
Bioethics and Medical Ethics Commons, Criminology and Criminal Justice Commons, Mental and Social Health Commons, Neuroscience and Neurobiology Commons, Other Public Health Commons, Physiology Commons, Public Affairs, Public Policy and Public Administration Commons, Race, Ethnicity and Post-Colonial Studies Commons
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