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Emma Sulfsted

Professor Vicki Stalbird

English 1201

31 July 2019

Insanity, Cost, and Recidivism: How Solitary Confinement is Working Against Corrections

“If you don’t feel like you’re relevant to somebody, then it’ll make you lose your damn

mind. You’ll just go crazy,” said Michael, an inmate in solitary confinement at a Virginia

supermax prison, during his interview for the 2017 HBO documentary, Solitary: Inside Red

Onion State Prison (Jacobson). Here, inmates are sent to solitary confinement as a punishment

by prison officials, where they are kept in 8 by 10 foot cells for 23 hours of the day for months,

years, and even decades (Jacobson). Inside the block where solitary inmates are held, there is

audible screaming and banging at all times (Jacobson). Not only do these prisoners face mental

challenges, but “if you have a valid problem, it’s not heard,” says Michael, “it’s like you have no

voice” (Jacobson). Inside the prison, this is called administrative segregation or “seg”

(Jacobson), and it’s not just happening it Virginia. It’s happening all over the world. This

inhumane practice of long-term solitary confinement should be minimized in the United States

prison system because it is mentally damaging, expensive, and counter-productive.

In the United States, “nearly one-fifth of all jail and prison inmates…have spent some

time in AS,” as stated by Robert Morgan in his 2017 Corrections Today article, “Questioning

Solitary Confinement: Is Administrative Segregation as Bad as Alleged?” (18). Solitary began as

a practice as early as the 18th century, but “supermax” prisons and the use of administrative

segregation has been rising since the 1980s, as outlined by Sarah Glazer in her 2015 web article

“Prisoners and Mental Illness.” Accordingly, there has been a rise in concerns about solitary’s
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effect (Morgan 18). Morgan writes that the most widespread concern is the “purported negative

physiological and psychological effects,” and many suggest that segregation causes a great few

negative mental health problems (19).

To begin to understand long-term solitary confinement’s effect on mental health, it is

important to understand what social creatures like humans can withstand. In Jason Breslow’s

2014 FRONTLINE article “What Does Solitary Confinement Do To Your Mind?” Breslow

examines many academic studies, all of which show that the effect of long-term isolation has

severe social impact on humans. In the 1950s, early stages of trying to understand isolation and

it’s psychological impact began with a University of Washington study conducted by

psychologist Harry Harlow that focused on the psyche of rhesus monkeys (Breslow). The

animals were placed in a chamber that was impossible to climb out of, and within two days or

less, the subjects began to “’assume a hunched position in a corner,’” as Harlow had found, and

they “wound up ‘profoundly disturbed, given to staring blankly and rocking in place for long

periods, circling their cages…and mutilating themselves’” (Breslow). After twelve long months,

the study of animals placed in isolation had an destroyed them socially (Breslow).

Finding studies like this done on humans is very rare, due to lack of consent from

universities, but one trial from McGill University shows that similar patterns occur in humans as

well as the monkeys, which Breslow examines further. In this experiment, male students were

paid by McGill’s researchers to “stay in small chambers equipped with only a bed,” similar to

the experience of one in solitary, to test the limits of sensory deprivation (Breslow). This study

took the isolation a step further by limiting their senses of sight, hearing, and touch through the

use of goggles, headphones, and gloves (Breslow). This tested on their ability to live while being

sensory-deprived, but the men being tested lasted only one week in what was going to be a six-
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week trial (Breslow). These studies highlight social creatures need for interaction, and the mental

decay that occurs due to isolation.

Yet, inmates held in solitary confinement can be kept there for their entire prison

sentence and suffer extreme consequences. Stuart Grassian, board-certified psychologist and

former Havard Medical School faculty, found in a recent study that “roughly a third of solitary

inmates were ‘actively psychotic and/or acutely suicidal’” (Breslow). Through his interviews

with hundreds of solitary confinement prisoners, Grassian came to the conclusion that solitary

itself causes a specific set of behaviors psychiatrically, “characterized by hallucinations; panic

attacks; overt paranoia; diminished impulse control; hypersensitivity to external stimuli; and

difficulties with thinking, concentration, and memory’” (Breslow). These inmates’ psyche varied

from complete loss of the ability to be alert and present, to states consumed by “‘crippling

obsessions’” (Breslow).

Studies of human needs for interaction range further to Tenzin Gyatso, his Holiness the

Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of the Tibetan people, who has received the Nobel Prize for

Peace through his teachings, interreligious dialogue, and sciences. In his 2003 book The

Compassionate Life he begins examining the benefits of compassion by looking at “our

fundamental nature” as humans. “We are, after all, are social animals,” he writes, “Without

human friendship, without the human smile, our lives become miserable. The loneliness becomes

unbearable.” (Bstan-ʼdzin-rgya-mtsho, 3). The Dalai Lama examines that humans depend on

others for everything, for even a selfish person cannot be praised without others, an adulterer

cannot cheat without another, and even causing harm cannot occur without someone to harm

(Bstan-ʼdzin-rgya-mtsho, 3-6). “All events and incidents in life are so intimately linked with the
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fate of others that a single person on his or her own cannot even begin to act,” and consequently

“interdependence is a fundamental law of nature,” (Bstan-ʼdzin-rgya-mtsho, 6.)

Imagine, knowing how interdependent of creatures we are as humans, that those you

were dependent on, being an inmate in solitary, were not only keeping you away from human

interaction, but riddling the little that you get with abuse. During her time in a Connecticut

prison, Chandra Bozelko experienced horrors in only a month of administrative segregation,

which she speaks out on in her 2016 article “Solitary Confinement Is Inhumane. I Should Know

– I spent 30 Days There,” from the Guardian News site. Bozelko claims she was starved by the

prison guards, as they found it funny to soil her food by pushing it on the ground when they were

meant to give it to her (Bozelko). Bozelko says “there was nobody to tell that I was starving.”

Meanwhile, she was living amongst “tumbleweeds of female hair,” her own and others, meal

residue crusting on the floor, and very little tissue so she was unable to clean without sacrificing

her toilet needs (Bozelko). After being released into general population, other inmates thought

from her suddenly thin figure she had been away on medical – she looked as though she had

been through cancer treatments (Bozelko).

The worst of all her experience was the dependence on those who would not help her.

She explains that in solitary, she was unable to make contact with anyone outside of the prison,

and the only people she could report abuse to were her abusers, the guards (Bozelko). “Prison

infantilizes everyone inside, but inmates in the general population have brief romances with

resourcefulness as they roam the facility” (Bozelko). She went on to explain that general

population inmates have the ability to ask for toilet papers and other needs at the staff desk, or

they can mail letters. If other inmates are having issues with officers, like she was, they can tell a

lieutenant they see in the dining hall (Bozelko). While living in this filthy space, she had no
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ability to do anything herself, and even when a lieutenant or captain briefly came around to

check on the inmates, they were accompanied by guards, there only with the purpose of

censoring an inmate’s ability to complain (Bozelko). If she had wanted to mail a letter begging

for help, the ability to get an envelope would be rare and even then, the guard can take advantage

of that and open or dispose of her letter (Bozelko). “Solitary shrinks a person with helplessness,”

Bozelko explained. If she experienced such horrors in only a month of solitary, what would it be

like to spend years in those conditions?

Not to mention, one-fifth to two-thirds of prisoners in administrative segregation already

had a mental illness upon entering solitary, as found by a 2003 Human Rights Watch report

(Breslow). While some may argue that it is safer for the mentally ill to be kept out of general

population, factual evidence shows that their mental deterioration is extremified by solitary, not

helped. (Breslow). “In one instance, a mentally ill inmate at the Tamms supermax prison in

Illinois declined to the point where he mutilated his own genitalia” (Breslow). Even the Justice

Department itself has recognized now that “mentally ill may not be fit for solitary,” as Breslow

pointed out.

Furthermore, at what cost is the United States correctional system willing to pay, in a

literal, fiscal manner? Per prisoner, a year spent in solitary confinement averages $75,000, as

noted by author Keramet Reiter, who studied solitary confinement’s rise and costs for years, in

her 2016 TIME article “The Social Cost of Solitary Confinement.” This massive amount is about

three times the cost of any other prisoner (Reiter). Specifically, Florida State University

professor Dr. Daniel Mears in his 2006 report funded by the National Institute of Justice,

Evaluating the Effectiveness of Supermax Prisons, found that the Ohio State Penitentiary had

costs of $149 daily for an Administrative Maximum prisoner, versus just $63 a day for a general
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population inmate – under half the cost of the former. Not only is this due to higher operational

costs, such as changes in correctional staffing (there must be at least two correctional officers

when escorting one prisoner, etc.), supermax prisons like the Ohio State Penitentiary have higher

construction costs, up to two or three times higher than maximum-security prisons (Mears).

. Although these reports seem damning, one must ask if these studies reign true, why does

solitary still exist? Much of the questioning lies in inconclusive studies, as well as studies that

are not a grand-enough scale to be considered full proof of damage. For example, in the

Corrections Today review conducted by Robert Morgan, two different studies came to show that

that AS contributed to medical and psychological problems, as well as the problem of recidivism

post-release (Morgan 19). However, they found that the effects of AS were similar to the effects

of simply incarceration itself, as compared to those in general population (Morgan). Results

could vary greatly from very good to very bad, depending on if it was their first time incarcerated

and more (Morgan 20). Adaptation to your surroundings for some narrowed some of the effects

(Morgan). However, Breslow argues that adjusting to surroundings in solitary is rare. “In a study

of inmates at California’s Pelican Bay State Prison, psychologist Craig Haney found that

prisoners ‘lose the ability to initiate or to control their own behavior, or to organize their own

lives’” (Breslow). Since these inmates have no control over the circumstances of their life while

in AS, they have a loss of behavioral control (Breslow). Prisoners in solitary become unable to

“initiate behavior of any kind – to organize their own lives around activity and purpose”

(Breslow). Due to this, those in solitary show signs of “chronic apathy, lethargy, depression, and

despair. ‘In extreme cases, prisoners may literally stop behaving’” (Breslow). Haney explained

to FRONTLINE that many prisoners, when released from solitary, able to finally interact with

others and find themselves unable to (Breslow). “Social atrophy” occurs, as described by Haney,
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whereas inmates face extreme anxiety around social interaction, which can be “extremely

disabling and problematic for people who are released from solitary confinement” (Breslow).

While Morgan’s Corrections Today article showed inconclusive studies, it was clear that

those with mental illnesses were doing worse due to AS, causing the report to urge limitation of

AS for those with pre-existing mental illness, as well as urge the creation of step-down programs

to help inmates adapt and become social again (Morgan). “The intent here is to eliminate the use

of AS as a behavioral management strategy for symptoms of mental illness” (Morgan).

A 2018 report concluded by authors Hagan, Wang, Aminawung, Albizu-Garcia, Zaller,

Nyamu, Shavit, Deluca, and Fox, “History of Solitary Confinement is Associated with Post-

Traumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms among Individuals Recently Released from Prison,”

published in the Journal of Urban Health, finds through a conclusive study that 43% of former

solitary prisoners were found to have PTSD symptoms post release, a great increase from 16% of

former general population prisoners. Those who already had mental illness symptoms were 93%

positive for PTSD post-release (Hagan).

Yet the number of mentally ill in solitary is only rising – as Glazer points out, the number

of mentally ill inmates in Chicago’s Cook County Jail, for example, had doubled in the prior

eight years to their study (Glazer). For many of these inmates, their “crime” was being off their

medication, yet they are put in an environment that’s only worsening their mentally ill state of

mind (Glazer). Not only that – but whereas stays in solitary used to be only a few days in most of

the 1900s, today it has risen to stays of many years (Breslow). In one instance with photographic
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evidence, 19-year-old Kevin DeMott, a diagnosed bipolar inmate in Michigan, had been placed

in solitary confinement for four months (Glazer). In this photo, Kevin is shown wearing a helmet

and chained to a bed, with

visible blood surrounding

him and on him (Glazer).

During his time in solitary,

DeMott had received no

medication for his illness

and became greatly

depressed, and the

“treatment” provided for

Kevin DeMott, chained and bloodied during his stay in solitary at Iona
Maximum Correctional Facility (NBC News).
him was the helmet and

chains shown, as a failed attempt to keep him from harming himself (Glazer). “Mental health

advocates say budget cuts in community mental health services have led police and courts to

lock up many troubled individuals in jails and prisons that are ill-equipped to treat them”

(Glazer).

These advocates are right. Joe Davidson’s report “Staff Shortages, Solitary Confinement

Increase Risks for Federal Prisoners and Public,” from the Washington post, just two years ago,

reports on the Inspector General’s research that shows solitary confinement isn’t helping

prisoners, and isn’t helping the public either. Estimates from June 2016 show that around 9,750

inmates were in some form of segregation all at one time (Davidson). Yet, only 57% of

authorized needed psychiatrist positions nationwide were filled (Davidson). Furthermore, these

staff shortages include a lack of medical professionals, and they struggle to have enough doctors
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and nurses to take physical care of inmates (Davidson). The Inspector General’s report

concluded that there needs to be significantly more steps taken by the Bureau of Prisons

(Glazer). Additional problems cited in the report show that the Bureau of Prisons “does not

sufficiently track or monitor prisoners with mental illnesses, mental health staff do not always

document inmates mental disorders, and the BOP is ‘unable to accurately determine the number

of inmates with mental illness or ensure that it is providing appropriate care’” because of this

(Davidson).

Red Onion State Prison yet again serves as a real-time example of this. The single mental

health supervisor, Paul, states that although he probably hasn’t been in the system long enough to

track if solitary itself is the cause of these illnesses they “‘do see that an offender who has a

history of no mental health services does all of the sudden start becoming symptomatic’”

(Jacobson). He says, “‘We have no other way to explain that, except that they have been housed

in this environment for such a long period of time’” (Davidson). Glazer backs this observation,

stating that not only are mentally-ill being forced into solitary, but many others with no pre-

existing illness develop severe mental and social damage because of solitary. At Red Onion,

solitary inmates may be moved to the solitary specific infirmary for anything ranging from self-

harm to “severe suicidal thoughts” (Jacobson). A guard at Red Onion testified to a time that one

man in segregation had bitten a hole into his arm (Jacobson). During one of Paul’s rounds of the

infirmary, an inmate put there because of suicidal tendencies begged for a more hands-on

treatment (Jacobson).

One must wonder how these obviously diminishing mental states are beneficial to our

prison system, and to put it simply: it’s not. Davidson’s review of the Inspector General’s

research shows proof that inmates upon release from solitary are in fact not better members of
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society, and are more likely to reoffend (Davidson). Time spent in administrative segregation

causes elevated rates of recidivism, as shown through their research, and many inmates upon

release into the community “‘come out of these units damaged and functionally disabled,’ which

can be a public safety concern” (Davidson). His research shows proof of not only mental health

problems caused by solitary, but the counter-productivity of solitary, as psychological damage

leads to “anger, aggression, and rage” even after all those years spent in solitary (Davidson).

Inside Red Onion, inmate Michael agrees, and says “it’s the anger and frustration everybody

feels inside themselves. You have this rage that just builds and builds and builds and builds and

builds. And little things will just make you go crazy” (Jacobson). This effect is only fueling

people to reoffend upon release, “because the correctional system didn’t adequately do its job”

(Davidson).

One spot of hope has begun to emerge in some prisons that use administrative

segregation: step-down programs. After Morgan’s study of its effects, he and his peers urged the

use of step-down programs for inmates serving significant time in AS. They argue that inmates

set to be released into the community should first be moved out of AS “approximately six

months before their release date” (Morgan 22). “It is clear that inmates released from AS directly

to the community fair worse than inmates not released directly from AS,” and therefore, they

believe a period of six months allows the inmates to adjust, increasing chances for success post-

release as one integrates into regular life (Morgan 22). Red Onion is one of the places where this

positive change has already begun. “Now, our goal is to take the restraints off here, to take the

risk inside the facility, so the risk is not taken in the public,” explained super-intendent Mathena

(Jacobson). To get out of segregation, the inmates must participate in the Step Down Program at

Red Onion, where they complete classes such as anger management, and challenge series
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(Jacobson). Mathena states that they are “trying to prepare them to be successful in a population

setting” (Jacobson). Here, this program has allowed over 400 prisoners to progress from

segregation back into general population, on the terms that they will return to Administrative

Segregation if they mess up.

However, the process is slow and long, and many inmates will never receive the

opportunity to even attempt the step-down program. Randall, an inmate in segregation at Red

Onion hasn’t had a breath of fresh air since he has been to prison, as he was put straight in

solitary, and he spends his time dealing with his depression by fantasizing about the world

outside (Jacobson). “I create entire landscapes in my mind. I can close my eyes…and I can

actually see it. I can actually walk through it” (Jacobson). He imagines the woods of his

childhood and says “you know that this right here is what God created this world to be. He didn’t

create it for violence, he didn’t create it for strife…when you’re out there in the woods…you get

a true glimpse of what life is supposed to be” (Jacobson). Randall, like thousands of solitary

inmates across the country, will never get to see that light again truly, unless change is made to

limit the use of solitary confinement.

While great progress has begun, there is much that needs to be done about the

circumstances inmates are forced into during their time in prison. Through this essay, proof has

been displayed of the harrowing and detrimental effects that solitary confinement has on

prisoner’s mental health. As Morgan stated, mental health rounds conducted on a minimum of a

weekly basis are a necessity, and these professionals need to consult with prison staff to “identify

behavioral changes or possible decompensation in inmate functioning” (Morgan 22). Many of

these inmates, faced with brutally overwhelming illnesses caused by the place they were put in,

are years past a mistake, often non-violent, that they had made, yet they will never even see the
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outside world again due to placement in segregation. Furthermore, for those that do reintegrate to

society, their mental states are so damaged from their time in solitary that they are now more

likely to reoffend, and these rates of recidivism are far too high to outweigh any benefits of

solitary. Changes need to be made to better their lives, and for the wellbeing of American society

as a whole.
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Works Cited

Breslow, Jason M. “What Does Solitary Confinement Do To Your Mind?” PBS, Public

Broadcasting Service, 22 Apr. 2014, www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/what-does-

solitary-confinement-do-to-your-mind/.

Bozelko, Chandra. “Solitary Confinement Is Inhumane. I Should Know – I Spent 30 Days

There.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 28 Apr. 2016,

www.theguardian.com/world/commentisfree/2016/apr/28/solitary-confinement-

inhumane-prison-stories-6-x-9.

Bstan-ʼdzin-rgya-mtsho. The Compassionate Life. Wisdom Publications, 2003.

Davidson, Joe. “Staff Shortages, Solitary Confinement Increase Risks for Federal Prisoners and

Public.” The Washington Post, WP Company LLC, 14 July 2017,

www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/wp/2017/07/14/staff-shortages-solitary-

confinement-increase-risks-for-federal-prisoners-and-

public/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.45c6527c9b8b .

Glazer, Sarah. "Prisoners and Mental Illness." CQ Researcher, 13 Mar. 2015, pp. 241-64,

library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/cqresrre2015031300 .

Hagan, Brian O., et al. “History of Solitary Confinement Is Associated with Post-Traumatic

Stress Disorder Symptoms among Individuals Recently Released from Prison.” Journal

of Urban Health, no. 2, 2018, p. 141. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1007/s11524-017-0138-1.

Jacobson, Kristi, director. Solitary: Inside Red Onion State Prison. HBO, Home Box Office, Inc.,

2017, www.hbo.com/documentaries/solitary-inside-red-onion-state-prison .
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Mears, Daniel P. Evaluating the Effectiveness of Supermax Prisons. National Institute of Justice,

2006, Evaluating the Effectiveness of Supermax Prisons.

Morgan, Robert D., et al. “Questioning Solitary Confinement: Is Administrative Segregation as

Bad as Alleged?” Corrections Today, vol. 79, no. 5, Sept. 2017, p. 18. EBSCOhost,

search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=f5h&AN=125105815&site=eds-live.

“NBC News.” NBC News, NBC Universal, Ionia Maximum Correctional Faculty, 21 Mar. 2013,

www.nbcnews.com/video/teen-in-solitary-confinement-on-being-hog-tied-22902339857.

Reiter, Keramet. “The Social Cost of Solitary Confinement.” Time, Time USA, L.L.C., 21 Oct.

2016, time.com/4540112/the-social-cost-of-solitary-confinement/.