Is long-term solitary confinement torture?
newyorker.com
newyorker.com
These people are turned into schizophrenics, tattooing their faces, painting walls with feces (if you are offended, please research the effects of solitary confinement).
Solitary confinement inmates go Insane. To what degree, depends on the duration and the person. As a deterrent, it is warranted and probably (no statistical info) effective in the short term. As a long-term "treatment" for rehabilitation, it is NOT effective.
If we are in fact, trying, to rehabilitate criminals into society, solitary confinement just creates a dangerous creature.
Apart from superficial lip service I don't think we are trying to rehabilitate anyone. It is plain and simple punishment.
The implication, or rather question here, is not about what one person likes vs. another person. We are all entitled to opinions, choices, etc., and we all have different ones.
The article is discussing whether a total absence of social interaction is bad for humans not because we just don't like it, but because it is necessary and requisite for your brain to function & survive, the same way a total absence of water is bad for us. Would it be so bothersome if I suggested since a severe (aka total) lack of water is bad for most humans, it's bad for all humans?
As terrible as prison is, almost no one actually prefers solitary confinement (introverts included). It's easy to say that you can handle solitary confinement until you end up spending practically 24 hours a day alone (23 of which are in one tiny room) for even a month or so.
It's analogous to me being offended if someone says dogs have 4 legs because my dog was born with only 3.
https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Harry_Harlow#...