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-- punish violence and psychosis by total isolation;
-- ignore prison traumas like rape;
-- call mental disorder "malingering" and out-of-control prisoners "psychopaths;"
-- deny them treatment; and
-- isolate them in supermaximum security units.
The effect of prison life is rising recidivism and "a new breed of incorrigible criminals and 'superpredators'..One had only to tour a prison to understand how violence and madness were bred by the crowding." Then consider the effects of prolonged isolated confinement and the violence and madness it produces.
The Federal Bureau of Prisons estimates at least 283,000 inmates have significant emotional problems and need treatment. In prison, they don't get it. Instead, they're confined to cells and given psychiatric medications.
Prison violence is a major problem. Supermax confinement was designed to limit it. "There is ample evidence that long-term cell-confinement with almost no social interactions and no meaningful activities has very destructive psychological effects," including mental disorders, violence, and high suicide rates.
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