Thinking Inside the Box:
As a student who is interested in becoming a Doctor, I never understood the amount of influence I would have on a community. As a doctor, we have learned throughout this class that the ethics of this job become very gray. So I have to decided to explore the topic of solitary confinement. Solitary confinement -- that is, confinement stimulation and minimal opportunity for social interaction --- can cause severe psychiatric harm. In regard to solitary confinement, the United States was actually the world leader in introducing prolonged incarceration-- and solitary confinement -- as means of dealing with criminal behavior. Despite what we may think, in the 19th century a product of a spirit of great social optimism about the possibility of rehabilitation of individuals with socially deviant behavior. Basically the idea of prison is a place where someone who has committed a crime would go to become a better person and come out a person that society is willing to accept. However, this has idea has failed many people who have dealt with the experience of being apart of the criminal justice system especially ones who have been in solitary confinement.
Many people, such as myself, have never thought about the consequences of placing someone in solitary confinement. I always had this mentality of " You did the crime, you pay the time". Not realizing that solitary confinement is a form of torture, but also due to budgeting the only way the staff of a prison and inmates will remain safe.
Many people, such as myself, have never thought about the consequences of placing someone in solitary confinement. I always had this mentality of " You did the crime, you pay the time". Not realizing that solitary confinement is a form of torture, but also due to budgeting the only way the staff of a prison and inmates will remain safe.
The story of Kalief Browder has had a major influence on the way I feel about solitary confinement. Although his story had a lot of other social influences upon it, the amount of torture this young man went through was highly upsetting. At only 16, Browder had endured so much, and still managed to fight for his human rights. Browder died by suicide by hanging himself, in his case Browder's supporters say his death was the result of mental and physical abuse sustained in prison.
From my understanding we have a lot of a work that needs to be done with our judicial system, but the first thing that comes to my mind is:" What would I do if I were any type of medical doctor inside a prison that had to deal with people who were locked up 23-24 hours a day, and given a small budget to treat them?"
I have posted a video of the Secretary of Corrections for New Mexico going into the the prison and experiencing solidarity confinement for about 48 hours. Below the video is a quiz. I hope you enjoy!
From my understanding we have a lot of a work that needs to be done with our judicial system, but the first thing that comes to my mind is:" What would I do if I were any type of medical doctor inside a prison that had to deal with people who were locked up 23-24 hours a day, and given a small budget to treat them?"
I have posted a video of the Secretary of Corrections for New Mexico going into the the prison and experiencing solidarity confinement for about 48 hours. Below the video is a quiz. I hope you enjoy!
Quiz:
1. What is the prisoners' number?
2. What was the crime did commit?
3. T/F the prisoner was the Secretary of Corrections.
4. T/F the prisoners real name was Gregg Marcantel.
5. T/F was he a cop.
6. Why did he put hisself through this process?
7. How big was the cell?
8. Level six is divided into three separate units where it houses ___ inmates. ( a number)
9.What were the three crimes mentioned that the inmates in this unit have committed?
10. How many people in total have the inmates killed?
11. What cell number was Freddy Munoz in?
12. How many murders did he commit?
13. How long has he been in prison?
14. How does he keep it together in solitary confinement?
15. What cell number was Daniel Herrera in?
16. How old his he?
17. What crime did he commit?
18. What is "fishing"?
19. T/F the office makes sure that the plastic is broken off the of the food tray.
20. T/F there are strict regulations to transporting an inmate to and from his cell.
Hey Kayla, I thought you did a great job on this report, and articulated your perspectives well. You took an empathetic viewpoint, looking through the eyes of a man who was wrongly incarcerated. On the walk leaving from class today, I discussed some viewpoints on the issue with another student. He mentioned the statistics surrounding wrongful incarceration. I think thats something you could have incorporated into your report to make it more well rounded. It made me rethink my opinion on the matter...while I still stand by an expedient death penalty in matters of absolute guilt where particularly heinous crimes are concerned.
ReplyDeleteAnother improvement I think you could have done is to focus the classes perspective, looking at the situation from the eyes of a healthcare provider in that type of situation. Should a health care provider be ALLOWED to look at why an inmate is incarcerated? I know that I wouldn't want to, because as soon as crimes involving children were found out, theres no way I could treat someone appropriately afterwards.
I think one really good aspect was when you discussed some of the psychological health implications of keeping a person in a tiny cell for long durations of time. As much as I would like to say it depends on what they did that dictates my level of care...this practice over all is immoral. I agree, we can and should do better.
Kayla,
ReplyDeleteThank you for bringing light to this subject. I believe, as a society, we are quick to forget about those living in incarceration. These are people, too. Of course, it is extremely challenging and sometimes impossible for others to view them as people, but at the end of the day, they are.
I’ve also heard and try to live by the phrase, “we are only three steps away from making a bad decision”. How life changing that decision is up to the three steps taken just before it. What are your thoughts on that phrase?
Obviously, these persons have taken those three steps and then some, but ultimately, is the purpose of jail to rehabilitate or a lifetime of punishment? In my opinion, it would seem almost, more humane to end their lives vs. living in solitary confinement for the rest of their life. I completely understand the family wants justice, but it seems more like vengeance than justice when cruel punishment is being demanded. The good book says, “an eye for an eye”. How different society would be if all those whom murder someone are instantly put to death themselves. Wouldn’t that fear of death, potentially stop someone from committing murder and ultimately decrease the murder death rate?
I could keep going with several other points, but again, I thank you for bringing this subject to light. Well done on your presentation, research, and thoughtfulness.
Ana
Of all the health-denying practices and omissions future generations will indict ours for, this one will be near the top of the list. They won't be charitable in evaluating the barbarism of solitary confinement. More generally: we don't tend to discuss "corrections" as a health issue, but it certainly is.
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