Solitary confinement

====Self-harm====

A major issue within the prison system in general, and solitary confinement in particular, is the high number of incarcerated individuals who turn to [[self-harm]]. Self-harm in carceral settings can include, but is not limited to, cutting, head-banging, and swallowing foreign objects.<ref name=kaba2014>{{cite journal |last1=Kaba|first1=Fatos |last2=Lewis|first2=Andrea |last3=Sarah|first3=Glowa-Kollisch |last4=Hadler|first4=James |last5=Lee|first5=David |last6=Alper|first6=Howard |last7=Selling|first7=Daniel |last8=MacDonald|first8=Ross |last9=Solimo|first9=Angela <!--and Amanda Parsons, Homer Venters--> |title=Solitary Confinement and Risk of Self-Harm Among Jail Inmates |journal=[[American Journal of Public Health]] |volume=104 |issue=3 |date=March 2014 |pages=442–447 |display-authors=1 |doi=10.2105/ajph.2013.301742 |pmid=24521238 |pmc=3953781}}</ref> 

A 2014 study of New York City jail admissions published in the ''[[American Journal of Public Health]]'' found that, after controlling for length of jail stay, age, race/ethnicity, and mental illness status, individuals placed in solitary confinement were 6.9 times more likely to commit self-harm and 6.3 times more likely to commit potentially fatal self-harm than the general jail population. While 7.3 percent of jail stays included any time in solitary, 53.3 percent of acts of self-harm and 45 percent of acts of potentially fatal self harm took place among people who had spent time in solitary during their stay.<ref name=kaba2014/>

Incarcerated individuals who attempt self-harm or suicide are often placed on [[suicide watch]], an intensive form of [[Social isolation|isolation]] and monitoring that takes place in a "bare cell" with few if any furnishings. While on suicide watch, individuals are typically denied clothing and bedding (to prevent them from hanging themselves using bedsheets), as well as programming and contact visits. Though these conditions are intended to prevent individuals from committing suicide, they often exacerbate [[psychological trauma|trauma]] and other pre-existing mental health conditions.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Quandt |first1=Katie Rose |title=When 'Suicide Watch' Becomes a Death Sentence |url=https://www.thenation.com/article/society/suicide-watch-death-sentence/ |website=The Nation |access-date=28 June 2023 |date=22 May 2023}}</ref> Despite controls in place, individuals in suicide watch cells have still found ways to harm themselves.<ref name="Bottos2007"/>