Solitary Confinement In Prisons

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Solitary confinement, by definition, is “the state of being kept alone in a prison cell away from other prisoners” ("Solitary Confinement"). Originally used to “give prisoners isolation and quiet so they could reflect on their crimes in the hope that this would lead to repentance”, the method is now primarily used in prisons as a punishment for violent inmates (Thompson). There is controversy on the necessity of Special Housing Units and whether the system should be utilized or not. Many believe that solitary confinement should be used as a method of punishment for those who cannot abide to prison rules, and is also necessary to control violent prisoners from assaulting other inmates and correctional officers. On the contrary, experts have voiced their concerns about the negative effects of Special Housing Units, stating that the punishment should not be implemented because of increased incidents of self-harm within segregated inmates. …show more content…
The Bureau of Justice Statistics, a constituent of the Office of Justice Programs in the U.S. Department of Justice concluded that from 2011 to 2012, 29,300 inmates in state and federal prisons were sexually abused by another inmate, with over one out of every 30 prisoners reporting reporting being raped or assaulted by another prisoner (6). Furthermore, this data only considers the reported acts of sexual assault in penitentiaries; rape often goes unreported in prison, making this study even more shocking. In order to lower the prevalence of rape and assault in correctional facilities, it is thought that giving sexual offenders a sentence in solitary confinement is necessary to keep prisoners