Children and Solitary Confinement: A Call to Action.

Abstract

* Abbreviations: AAP — : American Academy of Pediatrics UN — : United Nations In 2011, the United Nations (UN) issued a report calling for the abolishment of solitary confinement for juveniles because it “can amount to torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.”1 Although there is no universal definition of solitary confinement, the report defines it as “the physical and social isolation of individuals who are confined to their cell for 22 to 24 hours a day.”1 Juvenile detention facilities often use similar practices, isolating children for many, but <22 hours.2 While isolated, “children are regularly deprived of the services, programming, and other tools they need for healthy growth, education, and development.”2 Despite the UN report, the United States continues to apply the use of juvenile solitary confinement and isolation. Disturbingly, no federal statutes limit or prevent application of these practices to juveniles, and the majority of states do not have laws that explicitly limit their use.2 Most commonly, these solitary confinement and isolation practices are left to the discretion of juvenile housing facilities that vary in type (detention, group, residential treatment centers) and staff/resident ratios. These facilities, whether public or private, generally operate outside the purview of public accountability. The extent to which solitary confinement and isolation of children is used in the United States is largely unknown, because correctional (juvenile and … Address correspondence to Mikah Owen, MD, MPH, Department of Pediatrics, University of Florida College of Medicine–Jacksonville, 841 Prudential Dr, Suite 1330, Jacksonville, FL 32207. E-mail: mikah.owen{at}jax.ufl.edu