{'fraction_non_alphanumeric': 0.01927437641723356, 'fraction_numerical': 0.0, 'mean_word_length': 6.064, 'pattern_counts': {'":': 0, '<': 0, '<?xml version=': 0, '>': 0, 'https://': 0, 'lorem ipsum': 0, 'www.': 0, 'xml': 0}, 'pii_count': 0, 'substrings_counts': 0, 'word_list_counts': {'cursed_substrings.json': 0, 'profanity_word_list.json': 0, 'sexual_word_list.json': 0, 'zh_pornsignals.json': 0}}
Solitary Confinement, Loneliness, and Psychological Harm

Solitary confinement subjects prisoners to extreme forms of social isolation and social exclusion that, in turn, produce very high levels of suffering and pathology and nearly unprecedented degrees of loneliness. This chapter briefly reviews the scientific literature on harmful effects of solitary confinement, connecting it more directly to social psychological research on the adverse effects of social exclusion and isolation. The author discusses findings from a recent study of loneliness among long-term isolated prisoners, as well as an earlier study performed in an especially harsh solitary confinement unit—the Security Housing Unit (SHU) at the Pelican Bay State Prison in California—which systematically assessed the prevalence of symptoms of psychological stress, trauma, and isolation-related psychopathology.