Solitary Confinement

Accepted. As the Pro, I will be arguing for solitary confinement within psychiatric hospital and correctional facility settings. Solitary Confinement is Necessary in some CircumstancesThese circumstances would include: 1.) When the inmate is a danger to others.2.) When the inmate is a danger to themselves. 3.) When the inmate is vulnerable to attack from other inmates. 4.) When the inmate has displayed improper conduct or violated the rules of the institution. In cases one, two and three - solitary confinement is a necessary course of action. Solitary confinement usually entails more exposure to staff working at the said facility, thus if the patient or inmate is a danger to themselves, there is increased oversight and observation from staff to prevent the individual from harming themselves. In terms of whether the patient or inmate is dangerous to others - in order to prevent violence inflicted on other patients or inmates - they should be removed from the general population and placed in solitary confinement for the amount of time necessary. The convicted murder Thomas Silverstein - who killed a correctional officer in 1983 and has been in solitary confinement since - provides an example of why it can be both a punitive and a preventive measure. [1.] To expound on my third point, solitary confinement can be used as a tool to actually protect the human rights of the individual placed in it. It is occasionally outlined as an option for inmates who do not comply with the general profile of a 'criminal.' People who deviate from this profile are usually pedophiles and serial killers. Overall, they are not outwardly violent so have limited means of protection against other inmates. Pedophiles and lone-acting serial killers are confronted with wide disapproval in jail, therefore, solitary confinement is often the only option they have for guaranteed protection - their consent is usually requested, however. [2.] According to this source: 'Male sex offenders made up about 15% of the prison population but accounted for nearly 30 percent of homicide victims, the AP found in cataloging all 78 killings that corrections officials reported since 2007, when they started releasing slain inmates’ identities and crimes. The deaths – 23 out of 78 – come despite the state’s creation more than a decade ago of special housing units designed to protect the most vulnerable inmates, including sex offenders, often marked men behind bars because of the nature of their crimes. In some cases, they have been killed among the general prison population and, in others, within the special units by violence-prone cellmates. Officials acknowledge that those units, which also house inmates trying to quit gangs, have spawned their own gangs. The report looked at 11 homicide cases that were closed in the first half of 2014 and found that 10 victims were sensitive-needs inmates. Using corrections records, the AP found that eight of them were sex offenders. The inspector general recommended the reinstatement of a policy dropped 15 years ago that required potential sensitive-needs cellmates to fill out a compatibility form before they are housed together and that inmates with a history of violence toward cellmates should be housed alone.' [3.] An example of what can happen when lone-acting serial killers are not placed in solitary confinement, is the murder of serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer. After spending three years in jail for multiple murders, he was repeatedly hit over the head with a metal bar, violently struck against a wall, etc. and as a result died of severe head trauma one hour later. His killer claimed that he murdered Dahmer because he was 'disgusted' by his crimes [4.]Thus, there is an obvious question as to whether pedophiles and serial murderers should be allowed to live within the general population - for reasons relating to their own safety and prevention of murder within correctional facilities. Citations: [1.] http://murderpedia.org...[2.] http://abcnews.go.com...[3.] https://www.theguardian.com...[4.] http://www.nytimes.com...