Solitary confinement

== History ==
[[File:ESP-klondike.jpg|thumb|Subterranean cells at [[Eastern State Penitentiary]], [[Philadelphia]]]]
The practice of solitary confinement in the United States traces its origins to the late 18th century, when [[Quakers]] in Pennsylvania used the method as a substitution for public punishments. Research surrounding the possible psychological and physiological effects of solitary dates back to the 1830s. When the new prison discipline of separate confinement was introduced at [[Eastern State Penitentiary]] as part of the "Pennsylvania" or [[separate system]] in 1829, commentators attributed the high rate of mental breakdown to the system of isolating prisoners in their cells. [[Charles Dickens]], who visited the Philadelphia Penitentiary during his travels to America, described the "slow and daily tampering with the mysteries of the brain to be immeasurably worse than any torture of the body."<ref>{{Cite book|title=American Notes|last=Dickens|first=Charles|publisher=Chapman and Hall|year=1842}}</ref> 

The [[Supreme Court of the United States]] made its first comment about the deleterious effects of solitary confinement in 1890, noting that the use of solitary led to reduced mental and physical capabilities (''In re Medley'' 134 U.S. 160).<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://en.m.wikisource.org/wiki/In_re_Medley/Opinion_of_the_Court | title=In re Medley/Opinion of the Court - Wikisource, the free online library | access-date=12 August 2018 | archive-date=13 August 2018 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180813004820/https://en.m.wikisource.org/wiki/In_re_Medley/Opinion_of_the_Court | url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=arrigo>{{cite journal |last1=Arrigo |first1=Bruce A. |last2=Bullock |first2=Jennifer Leslie |title=The Psychological Effects of Solitary Confinement on Prisoners in Supermax Units |date=December 2008 |journal=International Journal of Offender Therapy & Comparative Criminology |volume=52 |issue=6 |pages=622–640 |doi=10.1177/0306624X07309720 |pmid=18025074 |s2cid=10433547 }}</ref> Records from Danish prisons between 1870 and 1920 indicate that individuals in solitary confinement there had also experienced signs of acute mental distress, including anxiety, paranoia, and hallucinations.<ref>{{cite journal |first=Peter Scharff |last=Smith |title='Degenerate Criminals': Mental Health and Psychiatric Studies of Danish Prisoners in Solitary Confinement, 1870–1920 |journal=Criminal Justice and Behavior |date=August 2008 |volume=35 |number=8 |pages=1048–1064 |doi=10.1177/0093854808318782|citeseerx=10.1.1.559.5564 |s2cid=220593357 }}</ref>

The use of solitary confinement increased greatly during the [[COVID-19 pandemic]] in response to the rising prevalence of the virus inside prisons and jails.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Cloud |first1=David H. |last2=Ahalt |first2=Cyrus |last3=Augustine |first3=Dallas |last4=Sears |first4=David |last5=Williams |first5=Brie |title=Medical Isolation and Solitary Confinement: Balancing Health and Humanity in US Jails and Prisons During COVID-19 |journal=Journal of General Internal Medicine |date=6 July 2020 |volume=35 |issue=9 |pages=2738–2742 |doi=10.1007/s11606-020-05968-y |pmid=32632787 |pmc=7338113 |issn=0884-8734|doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=As COVID-19 Spreads In Prisons, Lockdowns Spark Fear Of More Solitary Confinement |url=https://www.npr.org/2020/06/15/877457603/as-covid-spreads-in-u-s-prisons-lockdowns-spark-fear-of-more-solitary-confinemen |access-date=3 September 2020 |work=NPR.org |language=en |archive-date=2 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200902203000/https://www.npr.org/2020/06/15/877457603/as-covid-spreads-in-u-s-prisons-lockdowns-spark-fear-of-more-solitary-confinemen |url-status=live }}</ref> Many correctional facilities were locked down for up to 23 hours a day, confining people in their cells with no programming, phone access, or human contact. In the United States alone, more than 300,000 incarcerated people were held in virus-related lockdowns during the early months of the pandemic.<ref>{{cite web |title=Solitary Confinement Is Never the Answer: A Special Report on the COVID-19 Pandemic in Prisons and Jails, the Use of Solitary Confinement, and Best Practices for Saving the Lives of Incarcerated People and Correctional Staff |url=https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5a9446a89d5abbfa67013da7/t/5ee7c4f1860e0d57d0ce8195/1592247570889/June2020Report.pdf |publisher=Solitary Watch and Unlock the Box |access-date=10 July 2023 |date=June 2020}}</ref>