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There's a video on YouTube of a prison warden who went into solitary for 48 hours. He said it was painful - but that, considering how violent some of the prison

There's a video on YouTube of a prison warden who went into solitary for 48 hours. He said it was painful - but that, considering how violent some of the prisoners he had to hold were, he would still not rule out its use. It's not an ideal option in any way, but sometimes it's just the least-bad option. In my opinion, we should focus on overuse and abuse of solitary confinement, but elimination is not possible for some prisoners.

lupire 5y ago
Solitary confinement is far beyond physical separation of violent people. Being able to see sunlight and other people isn't a risk of violence.
jrochkind1 5y ago
I feel like there's probably a pretty big difference in how it feels between voluntarily going into solitary for 48 hours by your choice, only for 48 hours, and being in there for months (or years!!), with no known end. There's also a big difference between "ruling out it's use entirely", and having hundreds of thousands of people in it every day. It is not treated as a last resort in the current US incarceration system.
closeparen 5y ago
Solitary obviously seems very bad. Being locked in a congregate living setting with someone aggressive, brutal, much stronger than you, with all the time in the world and no better entertainment option than you, also seems very bad. What will you do with someone who has beaten the shit out of another inmate?
- mywittyname 5y ago
  I suppose they could be housed in individual cells that are open, so they can interact with other prisoners without physical interaction.
- ROTMetro 5y ago
  The guys that can't stop getting picked on have to 'check in' which means they are the ones who have to voluntarily go to the SHU (segregated housing unit or solitary) and do their entire sentence their until Obama passed a law limiting how long someone could be kept in the SHU, so now they get sent back to general population :( yay for good intentions.
r00fus 5y ago
The overuse of solitary confinement is a symptom of a raging prison industrial complex that relies on political corruption/kickbacks and a national culture that thinks punishment is more valuable to society than rehabilitation. One would need to alter both in order to resolve this. Given their interlocking/reinforcing nature, it seems infeasible without some kind of revolutionary change in US politics.

lupire 5y ago

Solitary confinement is far beyond physical separation of violent people. Being able to see sunlight and other people isn't a risk of violence.

jrochkind1 5y ago

I feel like there's probably a pretty big difference in how it feels between voluntarily going into solitary for 48 hours by your choice, only for 48 hours, and being in there for months (or years!!), with no known end. There's also a big difference between "ruling out it's use entirely", and having hundreds of thousands of people in it every day. It is not treated as a last resort in the current US incarceration system.

closeparen 5y ago

Solitary obviously seems very bad. Being locked in a congregate living setting with someone aggressive, brutal, much stronger than you, with all the time in the world and no better entertainment option than you, also seems very bad. What will you do with someone who has beaten the shit out of another inmate?

mywittyname 5y ago
I suppose they could be housed in individual cells that are open, so they can interact with other prisoners without physical interaction.
ROTMetro 5y ago
The guys that can't stop getting picked on have to 'check in' which means they are the ones who have to voluntarily go to the SHU (segregated housing unit or solitary) and do their entire sentence their until Obama passed a law limiting how long someone could be kept in the SHU, so now they get sent back to general population :( yay for good intentions.

r00fus 5y ago

The overuse of solitary confinement is a symptom of a raging prison industrial complex that relies on political corruption/kickbacks and a national culture that thinks punishment is more valuable to society than rehabilitation. One would need to alter both in order to resolve this. Given their interlocking/reinforcing nature, it seems infeasible without some kind of revolutionary change in US politics.