End solitary confinement

Apr 14, 2014, 12:00 AM

As college students, we often feel life’s pressures in waves. We busy ourselves, we hang out with our friends, do whatever we can to avoid being alone with our thoughts. Though this is not healthy, it is one of the ways that we stay sane. So now, imagine being alone with just your thoughts for months. You may have access to a book or two, but you have no human contact except guards, and you barely know how much time has passed. Anytime we talk about prison reform, we must speak to the problem that is solitary confinement. For many people, the closest contact that they have had with this issue is one episode of “Orange is the New Black.” And though the show attempts to portray its psychological effects, one short episode cannot encompass the horrors that many prisoners face in extended solitary confinement. Solitary confinement originated in the early 1800s, when prisoners would be left alone with only a Bible, in order to repent. This fell out of favor when many prisoners committed suicide or became increasingly dangerous. Solitary confinement has changed over the years but still results in the same effects. UW professor David Lovell studies solitary confinement and found that isolated inmates were most likely gang members, and 45 percent were mentally ill or suffered traumatic brain injuries early in their lives. The average time in isolation for each inmate is about one year. Some would say that Washington state is in the forefront of solitary confinement reform, but I argue that the existence of the program at all is inhumane and unjust. Prisoners sent to what Washington calls the Intensive Management Unit/Segregation are still solitary; their visitation hours are severely restricted or taken away completely, and the highest levels of restriction only allow for legal phone calls. On another note, in 2011 the Washington Supreme Court upheld that death row inmates could be held in solitary confinement indefinitely due to the closure of a prison. The judges decided that the prisoners’ lack of social interaction and recreation time in the new prisons was not an impermissible increase in the severity of the punishment. I understand that disciplining hard criminals is difficult and can be dangerous. But the psychological repercussions of leaving someone in solitary are extremely worrisome and can make the worst criminals even worse. Depression sets in as a result of isolation in many cases. Individuals in solitary confinement are also at a high risk of schizophrenia, which can be caused by increased stress and anxiety levels. Other effects are hypersensitivity to external stimuli, panic attacks, problems with impulse control, and general delusional thoughts. Prison reform needs to happen in a lot of different ways but especially when it comes to solitary confinement. Finding an alternate way to discipline makes sense because the current system is destroying inmates. Solitary confinement is unfair, unjust, and cruel. Humans are social beings, and though dangerous criminals have been stripped of many of their rights, they should not be stripped of their natural need to socialize. Reach opinion writer Haylee Millikan at opinion@dailyuw.com. Twitter: @hayleemaid

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