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Single-celling is the practice of assigning only one inmate to each
Single-celling is the practice of assigning only one inmate to each cell
Cell most often refers to:
* Cell (biology), the functional basic unit of life
Cell may also refer to:
Locations
* Monastic cell, a small room, hut, or cave in which a religious recluse lives, alternatively the small precursor of a monastery ...
in a prison
A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, corre ...
. John Howard
John Winston Howard (born 26 July 1939) is an Australian former politician who served as the 25th prime minister of Australia from 1996 to 2007, holding office as leader of the Liberal Party. His eleven-year tenure as prime minister is the ...
has been credited as establishing the practice of single-celling in the United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...
and, by extension, in the United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
. In 1957, only 15 prisons in the United States practiced single-celling exclusively while 41 prisons employed it with a portion of their cells and 44 housed multiple prisoners in all of their cells. Critics of single-celling suggest that the practice imposes psychologically harmful isolation on inmates, while advocates argue that single-celling alleviates many of the inmates' discomforts. The practice in many prisons of allowing general population prisoners to freely intermingle during normal hours diminishes the critics argument, while single celling gives prisoners a (relatively) safe place to retreat. The majority of cells allow the cell doors to be closed by an inmate and automatically lock. This provides additional security to potentially at risk individuals. Single celling also improves investigations of contraband possession since only a single inmate is assigned to a cell.
See also
*Solitary confinement
Solitary confinement is a form of imprisonment in which the inmate lives in a single cell with little or no meaningful contact with other people. A prison may enforce stricter measures to control contraband on a solitary prisoner and use additi ...
References
{{reflist Penology Forensic psychology Penal imprisonment Human rights by issue