Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1385129
THIS has been an issue that has been disturbing me for quite some time now. Solitary con- finement is a breach of human rights. There is nothing which is beneficial in this oppressive practice which is essentially in- stitutionalised torture. Members of the Faculty for Social Wellbeing in collabora- tion with colleagues from the Faculty of Laws, through a doc- ument published this week, are seeking to push for legislative changes that essentially pre- clud the State from using this mechanism as a tool for height- ened oppression. Our appeal is for the State to invest in rehabilitative struc- tures and social care services to ensure that we have prison in- mates who go through the sys- tem and are better positioned to act as active and responsible citizens instead of the other way around. Methods based on fear and distress do nothing to contribute to that. In truth, in most parts of the world, the issue of solitary con- finement has long been one of contention within the area of prison management. The practice of solitary confine- ment has been shown, through multiple empirical research publications, to be detrimen- tal to prisoners' wellbeing, re- sulting in negative effects on their physical, psychological and social health (Shalev, 2008; Brunner et al., 2017), as well as worsening rates of recidivism (Gordon, 2014). Research has shown solitary confinement to be ineffective in reducing violent behaviour or rehabil- itating the prisoner, in many cases increasing the chances of re-offending, in particular increasing the risk of a prison- er committing violent crimes (Zgoba et al., 2020), thus re- vealing that its use is by nature an admission of failure. The use of solitary confine- ment as a 'last resort' indicates that all other methods of re- solving a situation have failed. It is therefore pertinent that alternative courses of action are re-evaluated with a view to- wards the abolishment of soli- tary confinement. Add to that it does not work as a deterrent. In fact, in Malta there is 66% recidivism and 72% if you come from an intergenerational crime family, reported to have amongst the highest rates of suicide in prison and the cur- rent population of our facility is hitting the 900-inmate mark. A substantial body of empiri- cal evidence has demonstrated that individuals subjected to solitary confinement experi- ence significant detrimental ef- fects on their physiological and psychological wellbeing, which can occur after only a few days (Shalev, 2008). Such effects in- clude the obvious severe dam- age to the individual's emo- tional state which occur due to being locked up in a sub-stand- ard setting, as well as signif- icant physical changes in the brain: the hippocampus, which is the part of the brain respon- sible for memory and regulat- ing bodily responses to stress, becomes reduced in size, and the amygdala, responsible for the body's stress response and emotional state, demonstrates an increased productivity (Lo- bel & Akil, 2018). These changes in the brain subsequently lead to an in- creased frequency of emotion- al outbursts, with the prisoner being rendered into a state of anxiety and depression. The physical effects of Solitary Con- finement also cause the prison- er to become hypersensitive to stimuli such as light and sound, as well as experiencing muscle atrophy and lethargy due to their lack of physical activity (Azyvoloski, 2018). There has also been evidence of long-term physical effects of solitary confinement, such as complications with pris- oners' eyesight occurring as a result of being confined in a small space devoid of natural light (Shalev, 2008). Solitary Confinement can also cause long-term social effects, which some experts have referred to as 'social death' (Haney, 2019) or 'isolation syndrome' (Haney, 2003). This occurs when de- tainees who have previously been placed in solitary confine- ment and subsequently suffer from 'socio-phobia' that is, los- ing the ability to interact with other human beings. Accordingly, it is suggested that the primary aim of such overhaul would be to remove clauses which allow for Soli- tary Confinement to be used as a punishment either as part of court sentences discretion, for example by removing the refer- ence to solitary confinement in the following: "7. (1) Saving the exceptions laid down in the law, the pun- ishments that may be awarded for crimes are - (a) imprison- ment; (b) solitary confinement; (c) interdiction; (d) fine (mul- ta)." (Laws of Malta, Chapter 9) and also removing this oppres- sive practice from the Prison Regulations, and the CCF In- mates Handbook. In cases where a prisoner suffers from mental health is- sues and is deemed to require solitary confinement, due to posing a threat to their own safety or that of others around it is being recommended that provisions within the Mental Health Act are used. This would consist of using restrictive care, with all the relevant safeguards and proce- dures strictly enforced and duly documented. Assigning priori- ty to the Mental Health Act, in- stead of the prison regulations, would effectively necessitate that the decision to place a prisoner under restrictive care ceases to be enforced under the discretion of the prison direc- tor. Rather, by consulting with the Mental Health Act in rele- vant cases, this would require that the necessary monitoring and guidance is carried out by psychology professionals, in order to ensure the safety of the individual concerned. Prof. Andrew Azzopardi is Dean, Faculty for Social Wellbeing University of Malta Andrew Azzopardi 13 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 20 JUNE 2021 OPINION Solitary confinement in Malta: a call for reform