Solitary confinement

==== United Kingdom ====
[[File:High Royds solitary confinement - geograph.org.uk - 1047059.jpg|thumb|Solitary confinement cells at [[High Royds Hospital]], [[Menston]], West Yorkshire]]
In 2015, segregation (solitary confinement) was used 7,889 times.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Shalev |first1=Sharon |last2=Edgar |first2=Kimmett |title=Deep Custody: Segregation units and close supervision centres in England and Wales |date=2015 |publisher=Prison Reform Trust |location=London |isbn=978-1-908504-97-5 |url=https://www.solitaryconfinement.org/uk-solitary-confinement |access-date=24 March 2022 |archive-date=25 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220325114836/https://www.solitaryconfinement.org/uk-solitary-confinement |url-status=live }}</ref> 54 out of 85,509 prisoners held in [[England and Wales]] in 2015 were placed in solitary confinement cells in [[Close Supervision Centres]] (Shalev & Edgar, 2015:149), England and Wales' version of the US 'Supermax'.<ref name="tapley10">{{cite magazine |last=Tapley |first=Lance |title=The Worst of the Worst: Supermax Torture in America |date=1 November 2010 |url=http://www.bostonreview.net/tapley-supermax-torture-in-america.php |magazine=[[Boston Review]] |access-date=18 December 2010 |archive-date=6 May 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140506163602/http://www.bostonreview.net/tapley-supermax-torture-in-america.php |url-status=live }}</ref>

The use of solitary confinement on juveniles and children, as elsewhere, has been a subject of contention. Critics argue that, in the United Kingdom, the state has a duty to "set the highest standards of care" when it limits the liberties of children.<ref name=alex2>{{cite journal |last=Crook |first=Frances |title=Where Is Child Protection in Penal Custody? |date=September 2006 |journal=Criminal Behaviour and Mental Health |volume=16 |issue=3 |pages=137–141 |doi=10.1002/cbm.627 |pmid=16838387 }}</ref> Frances Crook is one of many to believe that incarceration and solitary confinement are the harshest forms of possible punishments and "should only be taken as a last resort".<ref name=alex2 /> Because children are still mentally developing, Crook writes, incarceration  should not encourage them to commit more violent crimes.<ref name= alex2 />

The [[penal system]] has been cited as failing to protect juveniles in custody.<ref name=alex2 /> In the United Kingdom, 29 children died in penal custody between 1990 and 2006: "Some 41% of the children in custody were officially designated as being vulnerable".<ref name=alex2 /> That is attributed to the fact that isolation and physical restraint are used as the first response to punish them for simple rule infractions.<ref name=alex2 /> Moreover, Frances Crook argues that these punitive policies not only violate their basic rights but also leave the children mentally unstable and left with illnesses that are often ignored.<ref name=alex2 /> Overall, the solitary confinement of youth is considered to be counterproductive because the "restrictive environment... and intense regulation of children" aggravates them, instead of addressing the issue of rehabilitation.<ref name=alex2 />

Solitary confinement is colloquially referred to in [[British English]] as "the block", "The Segregation Unit" or "the cooler".<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/defence/5559761/Army-captain-was-real-life-Cooler-King-from-The-Great-Escape.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090620133245/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/defence/5559761/Army-captain-was-real-life-Cooler-King-from-The-Great-Escape.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=20 June 2009 |title=Army captain was real life 'Cooler King' from The Great Escape |newspaper=[[The Daily Telegraph]] |author=<!--no by-line--> |date=17 June 2009 |access-date=16 April 2010 |location=London}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/north_west/3517476.stm |title=Cooler King recalls Great Escape |work=[[BBC News]] |author=<!--no by-line--> |date=16 March 2004 |access-date=16 April 2010 |archive-date=23 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170823122213/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/north_west/3517476.stm |url-status=live }}</ref>