...rights, they should still get the equal treatment like everyone else. A solitary confinement cell is the size of a handicap bathroom and they only get to leave a few times a week for a short amount of time to either shower or workout. Solitary confinement can cause prisoners to develop severe mental issue from being isolated from society. There has been many cases of people suffering for mental issues caused by solitary confinement. Solitary confinement can cause prisoners to act very violently, even more than what they are. Solitary confinement can also cause prisoners to have suicidal thoughts. Solitary confinement is the isolation of a prisoner in a separate cell as a punishment. Solitary confinement was made to be a harsh treatment for prisoners. Lawyers have disapproved it and call it a cruel punishment that has been banned by the Eighth Amendment. Prisoners would be held in there for twenty-two to...
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...he was transferred to Administrative Maximum (ADX) Florence, the federal government's only supermax facility, where inmates are housed in conditions of such extreme isolation. The prison is known as ADX Florence, Florence ADMAX, Supermax, and, not so fondly, as the "Alcatraz of the Rockies" (Marcus). Before entering ADX, Powers had no history or symptoms of mental illness, but since being installed there, he has become deranged and has engaged in numerous acts of self-mutilation, including biting off his finger, and trying to kill himself on several occasions (“Reports on and from”). To give people an idea of why a previously sane person would lapse into madness at ADX, they would need look no further than the circumstances of their confinement. ADX was designed to ensure the total isolation of all its prisoners, who are held in cells about the size of an average bathroom. The cells have thick, concrete soundproof walls, a door with bars and a second door made of solid steel. The only possible means of communicating with other humans is to yell into the toilet bowl and hope that someone may hear. The inmates are kept in their cells twenty four hours of the day for two days each week (“Inside the World’s”). On the other five days, they may get to spend approximately one hour in a similarly-sized cage for what is referred to as "outdoor" recreation. By its own policy, the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) excludes the mentally ill from ADX, but it seems that many prisoners with mental illness...
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...and viewpoints are clearly worked into his many stories. One of which stands out is his story A Hunger Artist. In this story Kafka speaks through the hunger artist of the alienation and isolation he feels in his own body, as well as the emptiness he feels as a result of the disconnected relationship he and his father share. Ironically this emptiness manifests itself quite literally at the end of Kafka’s life, when he dies as a result of tuberculosis of the larynx, which causes him to literally starve to death, just as the hunger artist in the story. It was said about his writing “the early manifestations of authentic originality were nurtured in solitary confinement, with his readiness to see the world through his own eyes.” (Pawel 160) This comes across clearly in A Hunger Artist as someone who is in a self-imposed solitary confinement seeking meaning to his life, much like the hunger artist being locked in his cage. Thus, Kafka uses A Hunger Artist to speak of himself and his experiences. A Hunger Artist is a short story about a once popular spectacle staged for the entertainment of a pleasure-seeking public: the exhibition of a professional “hunger-artist” performing in a cage of straw, his stunt of fasting. The hunger artist spends his fasting performances, and therefore most of his life, in a cage, on display before a crowd of people. His spectators see him as a trickster and common circus-freak and therefore they expect him to cheat, to break his fast in secret. But fasting...
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...In 2006, Timothy Souders, a 21 year old male was incarcerated and sent to the Southern Michigan Correctional Center to serve a three to five year sentence. Despite an investigation showing that Souders needed urgent psychiatric care, He was chained down by the hands, feet, and waist, for up 17 hours at a time. According to prison rules, Souders activity was recorded on a 24 hour surveillance camera and by the guards. The prison tape recordings show a rapid decline in Souders mental health. He started healthy, but in four days’ time he could barely walk. The article reports that in the shower he fell over. The guards had to bring him back to his cell in a wheelchair and then chain him down again. On August 6th he was released from restraints and fell for the last time. Souders died from dehydration documented by the surveillance cameras and ignored by guards. Souders was born in Adrian, Michigan to his mother Theresa Vaughn, who told 60 Minutes that her son’s troubles didn’t begin until late in his teenage years. It was then that he began to act strangely. Ms. Vaughn goes on in the article to describe an incident she remembers during the winter when her son was running outside with his clothes off, thinking he was a knight, fighting dragons. Souders battled with anxiety and depression, and spent time in and out of the hospital. He was caught shoplifting two paintball guns after one hospital stay. During the altercation, he grabbed a pocket knife, threatened employees, and begged...
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...older, the sense of empathy for others is lost and the focus becomes more about ourselves. Solitary confinement, the “me versus them” mentality in America, the sentencing of Socrates to death show people acting in ways showing no empathy for others. So if we, as humans, are naturally empathetic, why are we so un-empathetic in our actions? In The Age of Empathy, Frans de Waal says that empathy is a trait humans are born with, but society has told us it is not one to be shown in public. “We live in an age that celebrates the cerebral and looks down upon emotions as mushy and messy” (de Waal, 7). Emotions are part of our being and how we feel, and because of this we should be expressing them and acting in ways that portray them. As humans, we long for interaction with others that gives us the opportunity to express ourselves and are not meant to live in circumstances that prohibit this, such as isolation. Though I do realize we have to have consequences for those who break the law, is this the best way in which to do so? According to afsc.org, solitary confinement has lead to visual and auditory hallucinations, hypersensitivity to noise and touch, uncontrollable feelings of rage and fear, increased risk of suicide, and post traumatic stress disorder. These mental health defects cause serious problems for those affected when, or even if, they make it out of solitary confinement. What happened to our sense of empathy when dealing with these people? It seems as if when...
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...instances when new inmates come in and behave as if they are in dominant control. The older inmates do not appreciate when this happens and they get into fights. There are also times when violent behavior is between inmates and staff. These behaviors occur when inmates do not agree with the decisions of staff. They may argue or even go so far as the inmate violently attacking the staff. With these violent behaviors of inmates, come many consequences. Each violent behavior affects the length of incarceration. There is a charge that is applied for each behavior. These consequences can span anywhere from solitary confinement for a certain amount of days, to an increase in your overall sentencing. But there are strategies that can be used when there is violent behavior. The best thing for an inmate to do, is to ask themselves if it is really worth going into solitary confinement or potentially having the sentencing extended? If you are staff, then getting an opportunity to try to “talk down” the inmate may help (depending on the circumstance). If the circumstance is greater (in violence) then asking for assistance in dealing with the inmate is a good idea as well. Getting the inmate to a place by themselves may calm the inmate and the staff...
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...Topic 1: Solitary confinement is the act of restraining a prisoner for up to twenty-four hours in a windowless cell without any human contact. The United States of America has implemented solitary confinement in the nineteenth century. Often, like prison inmates of the past, prisoners today had to endure inhumane conditions during their sentences. According to Duke B., an inmate of the Pelican State Bay Prison in Crescent City, California, “Inmates in CSW was reported to be limited to only one pair of socks to wear.” He also stated that they were also subjected to two pairs of undergarments that are taped to their bodies as well as ill-fitting chains on their legs leading to the loss of blood circulation. Similarly, there were other testimonies...
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...Solitary Confinement is Cruel and Must Cease Immediately You are in a prison. Isolated from everyone else, in a room, no larger than eighty square feet, with a toilet, sink, a bed, and a small slot for your meals. Do you like it? If not, that is how prisoners feel when placed in solitary confinement; some have been in solitary for a few months, some for a few years. You have never thought about this have you, how convicts feel. Solitary confinement is basically a form of torture but more “humane”; the outcome of this is no joke; the thoughts of suicide, increased, risk of getting viruses, and ultimately, self harm to suicide. The following paragraphs will further inform you about the demonic punishment for prisoners. Solitary confinement is used in prisons as a form of punishment for convicts; evidently, the prisons do not realize that this is harming the inmates’ mind. To start off, the effects that solitary confinement has on the...
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...Invisible Afflictions of Correctional Facilities There is a growing consensus that solitary confinement develops a host of psychological stresses to manifest physical ailments in the form of indigestion, constipation, ulcers, stomachaches, headaches, hypertension, or asthma (Sindee, 2016, p. 177). The ‘bad-news list’ (BNL) gives such exposure to marked convicts that earn a standing to be assaulted upon first glimpse. Several grounds range from unsuccessful chances to repay a drug debt, spilling the beans on another inmate, and so on. Its emotional impression brings a perpetual fear of assault resulting in the sense of helplessness to depression by correctional officers or other inmates’ actions of pressure or manipulation. These, “people have...
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...Upon arrival at The Squirrel Cage Jail originally called the Pottawattamie County Jail. There is an old, paint chipped, and original small round door handle on a bright red door. When I walked in through the heavy red door there are metal stairs to walk up to the second floor of the jail. This building served as the County Jail from September 1885 to December 1969. The jail got the name Squirrel Cage Jail by the design, it is cylinder twenty-eight feet high, twenty-four feet in diameter, and weighs 90,000 pounds empty. There were ten cells per floor and three floors that held two inmates, but these cells were so small I could touch every wall in one pass. Each cell had a bunk bed and a bench. A hand crank at the start of each floor would be used to rotate the cells to the single opening on that level. These openings were just as small as the cells. The first thing that I noticed was the smell of a rusted metal and dust. The Sound of the floorboards creaking throughout. I’m not one to be scared but upon entry I felt like someone or something was watching me. Every sound made me jump, and I would turn around to make sure no one was behind me. This jail is believed to be haunted, and I completely believe that is true. As I walked through the jail I noticed that doorways and hallways were small and just wide enough for me to fit through. On the first floor under the stairs is the shower that I can touch the top of. It’s not very big, totally opened. Inmates would take a shower...
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...Penitentiary Ideal and Models of American Prison Paper Patricia Ann Long CJS/230 November 20, 2011 Amanda Eicher Abstract The ideal for penitentiary is to keep the criminals off the streets, so that he or she cannot continue to commit crime in the society. Penitentiary ideal purposes were both secular and spiritual (Foster, "Chapter 2/The Penitentiary Ideal," 2006). The two prison models are Eastern State and Auburn. Explain the difference between both of the two prison models. The differences are the cell’s size, exercise yard, confinement to the cells, and the places that the inmates work at in the penitentiary. Penitentiary has its own benefits and drawback because no system is perfect. Some benefits are inmates not allowed to communicate with the other inmates, way that the penitentiary has the inmates working instead of his or her staying in the cell doing nothing during the day. Some drawback is that the inmates at Eastern State do not see other people during the day and for Auburn the inmates are interacting with each other on a daily basic, and it could cause problem with some of the inmates. The winning model is the Auburn because of it is affordable, productivity, and efficient management. The Eastern State is the idea penitentiary but the government has to use the affordable method that found. Penitentiary Ideal and Models of American Prison Paper The ideal of penitentiary is for the criminals have a place that isolated him or her away from other...
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...What is important in a long-term mate? Methods: Participants * 78 participants were solicited at O’Hare International Airport. * 37 women aged 23-55 and 34 men aged 21-59. * They were 83.7% Caucasian, 4.2% Asian, 4.2% Hispanic, 1.4% Middle Eastern, 1.4% Native American, and 1.4% other. * 52.1% were currently married. * The median income category was $30,000 to $45,000. * The median education was a 4-year college degree. Materials and Procedure * A page of instructions, three mate design pages, and one page for demographics. * Participants were asked to design their ideal marriage partner. * Each decile level corresponded clearly from 0-10. * Each page specified a different budget constraint- 20 (low), 40 (medium), 60 (high) mate dollars. Results: * The dependent variables were percentages spent on each characteristic. * Planned contrasts were used to test each prediction. Spending for Necessities with a Low Budget: * Women spent the highest proportion of their low budget on intelligence and yearly income. * The planned contrast was… * Men spent the highest proportion of their low budgets on physical attractiveness and intelligence. * The planned contrast was… Spending Across Budgets- Low Income Versus High Income Consumption: * Both sexes had different spending patterns across the three budget levels. * For women- yearly income * For men- physical attractiveness * The sex differences on physical...
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... by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. Her husband, a doctor, has taken her to a summer vacation home for rest therapy; however, the woman's condition worsens and she starts to see some disturbing images in the wallpaper of the room in which she is confined. She tries to tell her husband without success and with time sees the images more and more frequently. At the end of the story, she locks herself in her room and tries to tear off the wallpaper. The yellow wallpaper in the story represents the protagonist’s feeling of oppression by her husband and society at large. Early on in her encounters with the wallpaper she describes its ugliness as “flamboyant” with “…patterns committing every artistic sin”, which symbolizes the ugliness of the confinement in which she finds herself (480). As time passes in the story, the wallpaper starts to grow on her and she starts to obsess over it. When she says the wallpaper “[knows] what a vicious influence it [has]” over her, she begins to describe the wallpaper as if it is alive (481). As she slowly starts to loose her sanity, she starts to see the pattern in the wallpaper as the form of a person. She describes the personage as “a woman stooping down and creeping about behind [the] pattern [of the wallpaper]…. as if she wanted to get out” (484). The wallpaper woman is a representation of the narrator being trapped by the strict social norms of society. At this point, the protagonist also begins to wonder what is keeping the woman in the wallpaper...
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...with the thought of the surgery, with no rest even as my parents attempted to provide me with comfort. The taste of salt flavored my mouth from the continuous stream of tears that flowed down my face. The only plausible solution, other than having a heart attack, was to cry myself to sleep. Ring! Ring! The fate of my day rested conveniently in my bomb-drill sounding alarm. Getting dressed was the hardest thing to do as my limbs quivered in fright, and my heart palpitations increased as every second passed on. In attempts of calming myself, I logged onto social media as a distraction from the painful process approaching, but there were countless negative thoughts soaring through my head. The car ride there was like my own personal solitary confinement and all I had left was my emotional indifference. After I gained the courage to walk through the hospital doors, my stomach sank faster than the Titanic. While I sat in the waiting room, my anxiety peaked, causing all of my senses to heighten. The heavy scent of latex gloves and sterilized hospital waiting room flavored the air in a thick smog. I felt rivers of perspiration swiftly flowing out my hands. Getting four teeth surgically removed was one of the worst days of my life. Once the dental assistant called my name, there was no going back. After the nurse entrapped me into the brightly lit surgical room, she put giant headphones over my ears and blasted my favorite music. Soothing sounds from artists such as Taylor Swift, Selena...
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...Long-term solitary confinement could have a negative effect on inmate’s physical and mental well-being. Inmates who are confined to a cell 23 hours out of the day may begin to experience depression, panic attacks, suicidal and decrease in physical appearance such as weight loss. Inmates may lose their social interaction skills because they do not interact with other inmates. Inmates learn to cope with being in small confined spaces and lose focus. “Grassian has since concluded that solitary can cause a specific psychiatric syndrome, characterized by hallucinations; panic attacks; overt paranoia; diminished impulse control; hypersensitivity to external stimuli; and difficulties with thinking, concentration and memory. Some inmates lose the ability...
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