Hey, just a quick addition to last week’s post about socialization and isolation!
I spotted this NPR story this morning about the long-term damage caused by solitary confinement in prisons and it fits well with last week’s newsletter, Thinking about Genie. Nelson Mandela says solitary confinement that lasts more than 15 consecutive days is a form of torture. I’d argue it’s an even shorter period of time. Prison advocates hope that solitary confinement will soon be a thing of the past. Solitary Watch is an organization working to end the use of solitary confinement in prisons and you can check them out (and donate to their cause) here.
This article has me wondering if some of what we felt when we came out of lockdown this summer (briefly, I guess) were the effects of our isolation—paranoia, depression, anxiety about small spaces or people getting too close to us in line at the coffee shop. Sound familiar? We were in isolation for much longer than 15 days. Will the effects on us be long-term, too?
This makes me remember the horrific impact of social isolation/lack of human contact that was reported in the early 90s. Infants in Romanian orphanages were the victims, and many studies were conducted since then. A great number of these orphans were adopted, and have major emotional/psychological issues to this day.
This makes me remember the horrific impact of social isolation/lack of human contact that was reported in the early 90s. Infants in Romanian orphanages were the victims, and many studies were conducted since then. A great number of these orphans were adopted, and have major emotional/psychological issues to this day.