I. Extended stays in solitary confinement causes inmates to suffer from irreversible mental illnesses.
A. Prison is intended to rehabilitate inmates into upstanding citizens but, isolation causes inmates to act out in violence and often times, commit suicide.
B. The most commonly reported psychological effects caused by isolation are anxiety, psychotic depression, delirium, schizophrenia and suicidal thoughts.
1. Inmates suffering from mental illnesses induced by isolation will often times, never recover from their disease.
2. In 2005, 69% of suicides in California prisons were inmates being housed in isolation.
3. Isolating a human being for extended periods of time is inhumane and should be treated as such.
BODY
II. Human beings are social creatures and we require, at minimum, verbal contact with other humans in order to maintain our health and well-being.
A. Without contact with other humans the inmate is at risk of developing a bounty of mental health issues.
B. The psychological state caused by mental health problems will cause an inmate to act out in violent bursts, attempt suicide or harm others.
1. Causing an inmate to suffer from a mental illness due to isolation for extended periods of time defeats the purpose of imprisonment.
2. Schizophrenia, a mental illness caused by isolation is defined as a severe debilitating illness that is characterized by symptoms of thought, behavior and social problems.
3. With these issues, this person will be unable to be rehabilitated and released back into society without being a threat to others.
4. There is no evidence that proves isolation assists in rehabilitation.
BODY (Proposal)
I. There is one simple change that can be made within prisons that will preserve an inmates’ mental health and continue to keep prison staff and other inmates protected from any danger the inmate may pose.
A. House the inmate by himself in