Solitary Confinement Research Paper

How effective is Solitary Confinement ? For those of us who have siblings, or children, think about how it would feel to know that your loved one is placed in a 60 or 70 square foot room. They remain in their cells for approximately twenty hours out of the twenty-four hours in a day. The purpose of that is to supposedly serve as a punishment for the juveniles. However, instead of serving as a punishment it is damaging these youngsters both emotionally and psychologically. The Juvenile Detention Centers should counsel, or enroll the detainees in active programs, and rehabilitate them instead. By placing the youngsters in cells for the majority of the day, it is almost certain that the child will be negatively impacted and it prepares them …show more content…
The United States along with Somalia are the only ones who did not sign the document that states “all disciplinary measures constituting cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment shall be strictly prohibited, including corporal punishment, placement in a dark cell, closed or solitary confinement, or any other punishment that may compromise the physical or mental health of them juvenile concerned” (United Nations, 1990). Unfortunately, most of the guards who work in the Detention Center have the mindset that solitary confinement is an important “teaching tool” that will supposedly get the children to obey and follow rules. “Guards are no longer trained to counsel the children under their charge; instead, they learn the proper use of physical force techniques how to engage five-point restraints, and how to recognize the “sociopathic” personality” (Bickel 149). Guards are not getting the proper training to handle the youth in a healthy way, instead they are trained and “programmed” to take physical force on the youth. However, the guards might reconsider that idea if their own children were the ones who were getting locked up in solitary confinement. Unfortunately, there are no reconsiderations due to the fact that it is there job and it's also not there kid or loved one. As said in “The Scene of the Crime: Children in Solitary Confinement” by Christopher Bickel “for them it's just a job. For us, it's our life” (142). Afterall, placing these young adults in solitary confinement is not going to get them to follow rules. Also, many can agree that solitary confine “creates more anger and inevitably leads to more conflict between youth and their keepers” (Bickel 141). If anything, solitary confinement will only create more anger, and will eventually cause more problems to the child. Also, the relationship between the youth and staff will definately be unhealthy, and the youth will lose all respect

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