The Physical & Mental Effects of Solitary Confinement

Introduction and Background: Solitary confinement has been a controversial topic in recent years among jail and prison systems. Solitary Confinement is the act of isolating a person in a prison or jail for up to 23 hours a day. These long periods of isolation can cause serious mental and physical damages to a human.Purpose Statement: The purpose of this research is to understand the effects, both mental and physical, that solitary confinement has on a person. How does solitary confinement effect a person’s body and mind, and what interventions can be used to help prevent these changes?Literature Review: Key terms used in research involved “nursing” and “solitary confinement effects.” 15 studies were used in the research. Data bases searched involvedFindings: Our findings tell us that both physical and mental damages are done to people in confinement, and the damages get worse the longer they are confined. Anger towards the legal systems and loss of empathy are some damages that occurred even for years after solitary time was finished.Conclusions: The take home message is that solitary confinement does more harm than good for almost anyone that spends time in confinement. There needs to be better interventions in helping these people such as promoting exercise and behavior cognitive therapy. There are better ways to handle people in prisons than to isolate them and cause massive damage to their health.