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Solitary Confinement: Drastic Measures
October 31, 2020 @ 10:00 am - 11:00 am CDT
Rashida Winslow, LPC, Reignite Psychological & Consulting Services, LLC
Christina Pappa, Forensic Psychology: Professional Counselor Licensure Track Student, The Chicago School of Professional Psychology, Washington, D.C. Campus
This roundtable will examine the conditions and effects of solitary confinement on inmates. While the main focus is on inmates in the United States, comparisons internationally are made. Constitutionality is brought into question along with international standards for humanity. Psychological effects of solitary confinement include, but are not limited to agitation, anxiety and panic, psychosis, and self-mutilation. Several organizations have completed independent site reviews of solitary confinement. The results from those prisons show inmates experience a lack of sunlight, minimal fresh air, and decreased human interaction. According to Amnesty International (2014), the Metropolitan Correctional Center holds detainees in solitary confinement, which was deemed incompatible with the presumption of innocence. The questions brought up will provide a basis for a discussion on the ethics and need for solitary confinement in the criminal justice system.