The Scene of the Crime: Children in Solitary Confinement

• In Event: Convict Criminology Session 1: The Marion Experiment

Abstract

In this essay, I have documented what Danny calls, “the scene of a crime,” as witnessed by the young men at Rosy Meadows. Following the “Marionization” of adult prisons is an equally dramatic shift in juvenile justice policy toward more incarceration and punishment and less rehabilitation (Immarigeon, 1992). The stories of Mario, Andre, Phil and Danny provide insight into this tragic failure of juvenile justice policy over the past 30 years. Juvenile justice officials and criminologists have grossly underestimated the physical and psychological damage cell confinement causes for youth trapped inside cinderblock cages. Most officials justify the use of solitary confinement as a tool for rehabilitation or for the management of “dangerous” youth. The young men in this essay, however, suggest it is an instrument for the cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment of children, who are ultimately robbed of their childhood.

Author

• Christopher Bickel, California Polytechnic State University