What Are The Ethical Issues Of Solitary Confinement

What are the Ethical Issues of Solitary Confinement? What are ethics? Why is it important? Ethics can be defined as â€Å"the discipline dealing with what is good and bad and with moral duty and obligation; or â€Å"a set of moral principles (Merriam-Webster, 2017)†. The reason ethics is important is because it gives us a basic understanding the difference between concepts and situations that are considered right or wrong. We as humans have learned a set of values and beliefs that tell us what is considered right and wrong, there are times when situations change and the standard of ethics changes, but generally it goes according to our beliefs and what society considers to be right and wrong. What is Solitary Confinement? Solitary confinement is†¦show more content†¦The department of Corrections first used this strategy as a way to assist with prison inmates who were uncooperative and dangerous to both correctional staff and fellow inmates. The horrors of solitary confinement. One man named Gabriel Eber who was a prison inmate at East Mississippi Correctional Facility retells the horrors of solitary stating â€Å"Men are kept in small, unsanitary isolation cells with scant human attention for months and years. Self-mutilation and suicide attempts are not uncommon (Rienzi, 2015)†. There are thousands of inmates who spend 23 hours a day, in a windowless cell alone without human interaction. One account from Kate Edwards who runs an advocacy group known as â€Å"Wisdom† in one of New York State’s correctional facilities states â€Å"They would change in disturbing ways†, â€Å"They became unkempt, less able to focus. As the weeks went by, they would look more and more distressed. I was watching them disintegrate. (Lueders, 2015)†. The reality is that inmates that are locked away from 23 hours a day for weeks or even years, facing severe repercussions that ultimately do more harm than good . Inmates are locked away and having no interaction at all and nothing to do. â€Å"They face crushing depression and anxiety. They scream and cry. They slash and bite their own flesh. They smear feces on the wall. They try to kill themselves with pens, paperclips, bed sheets, with metal fromShow MoreRelatedSolitary Confinement Units1172 Words   |  5 PagesThe Pennsylvania system constructed in the early 1800s inspired solitary confinement by using extreme isolation to deter future crime. In the twentieth century, inmates in solitary confinement would stay for short periods. According to Craig, people would stay in secure housing units for a couple of days or weeks (Weir, 54). Nowadays solitary confinement has become very popular. Inmates are being sent to solitary confinement for indefinite periods of time ranging from weeks to years. An UrbanRead MorePersuasive Essay On Prison Segregation1490 Words   |  6 PagesWhen it comes to segregation in prisons, there is a great deal of controversy. There are people who argue that this type of segregation (also referred to as solitary confinement) is necessary in certain situations, while others find that it is absolutely unnecessary and should be abolished. Ashley Smith was one such individual that spent most of her sentence in segregation until she took her own life. In the case of Smith, there was a lot more that should have been done to prevent her tragic demiseRead MoreCriminalization Of The Mentally Ill1486 Words   |  6 Pagesillnesses. This issue is unethical because these persons cannot help the fact that they have a mental illness and are being convicted due to their behaviors that would not be present if they were being treated properly. It also seems as though no one knows what to do with people who have a mental illness and display behaviors, so they lock them up so that society is not disturbed. Another startling fact is that many of the inmates with mental illness are put into solitary conf inement. Knowles (2015)Read MoreSolitary Confinement, By John Stuart Mill Essay2230 Words   |  9 PagesLocked up, boxed off, silence, loneliness, those are some of the many feelings and realities faced by prisoners who are hidden away in solitary confinement. Solitary confinement is where prisoners are brought to be punished, they are separated from the main population and thrown into a small empty room, with a locked door and a tiny window that opens up for guards to slide the food into the room. The inmates here are isolated from nearly all forms of human stimulation and get out at most one hourRead MoreSolitary Confinement Is The United States State Penitentiary2391 Words   |  10 PagesMerriam-Webster dictionary, Solitary Confinement is the confinement of a prisoner in a cell or other place which he or she is completely isolated from any and everyone. Merriam Webster also states that even some prisoners are held from 22.5 to 24 hours a day. Solitary confinement is sometimes referred to as isolation, segregation, separation, and cellular confinements so that it seems different from solitary confinement or too make it sound like a less harsh punishment. Solitary Confinement is a huge controversyRead MoreThe Ethical Treatment of Prisoners3418 Words   |  14 Pagesï » ¿The ethical treatment of prisoners is a surprisingly contentious topic, considering how much is known about the conditions and contexts in which human beings function optimally, both physically and mentally. However, ethical discussions frequently have very little to do with what best allows human beings to thrive and function, but instead concern themselves with formulating rules and standards of acceptable behavior, usually out of the mistaken belief that these rules or standards represent someRead MoreTheory Of Kalief Browder1324 Words   |  6 Pagesblank going in. He did not inherit anything that could help him or influence survival in this environment so, he had learned how to sur vive based on the things he learned during his time of imprisonment. Equally important, his experiences from solitary confinement conditioned his suicide behavior. Growing up in Child Protective Services care due to a drug addicted mother may have contributed to Browder’s prison experience. He may have viewed being removed from his mother’s care as a sign of unfairnessRead MoreMental Health Services At The Detention Hospital965 Words   |  4 Pagesit is ethical for psychologists to participate in nontraditional clinical activities. The detainees of Guantanamo Bay are sent to officials through a referral process and are provided with multiple psychological and psychiatric therapies. The purpose of this study, was to address the situation at Guantanamo Bay and show that detainees is treated with the best possible care. The treatment of detainees are an important thing, because these individuals are humans and have rights, despite what they areRead MoreMany Death Row Inmates Endure A Plethora Of Years Within1065 Words   |  5 Pagesyears within a prison, the majority of the time in solitary confinement with no social interaction, very little exposure to the environment, and in a room with bare walls or the necessities: a bed, sink, and toilet along with other hygienic needs such as a toothbrush, toilet paper, etc. Prisoners sit awaiting their execution day for years. Through my research there has been an abundance of evidence examining the situation of whether or not this is ethical/moral. These questions have been addressed, butRead MoreThere Are A Few Different Types Of Insanity Pleas In The1264 Words   |  6 Pagesnot guilty by reason of insanity if at the time of committing the act, he was laboring under such a defect of reason from disease of the mind as not to know the nature and quality of the act he was doing, or if he did know it, that he did not know what he was doing was wrong. (emphasis added) This test is also commonly referred to as the right/wrong test (â€Å"A crime of insanity - insanity on trial,† 2014). Twenty-two jurisdictions use some variation of the Model Standard set out by the American