Solitary confinement is a special form of imprisonment in which a prisoner is isolated from any human contact, though often with the exception of members of prison staff. It is sometimes employed as a form of punishment beyond incarceration for a prisoner and has been cited as an additional measure of protection from the inmate or is given for violations of prison regulations. It is also used as a form of protective custody and to implement a suicide watch.
Solitary confinement is colloquially referred to in American English as the 'hotbox', the 'hole', 'lockdown', 'SCU' (Solitary Confinement Unit), 'AdSeg' (Administrative Segregation), the 'SHU' (pronounced 'shoe')—an acronym for security housing unit, or the 'pound'; and in British English as the 'block' or the 'cooler'. In Canada they are known as a Special Handling Unit.
Read more about Solitary Confinement: History, Use, Solitary Confinement in The United States, Solitary Confinement in The UK, Criticism, Actions, Alternatives, Proponents
Famous quotes containing the words solitary and/or confinement:
“A solitary traveller can sleep from state to state, from day to night, from day to day, in the long womb of its controlled interior. It is the cradle that never stops rocking after the lullaby is over. It is the biggest sleeping tablet in the world, and no one need ever swallow the pill, for it swallows them.”
—Lisa St. Aubin de Terán (b. 1953)
“We’re all of us sentenced to solitary confinement inside our own skins, for life!”
—Tennessee Williams (1914–1983)