The Psychiatric Aspects of Solitary Confinement

Mental health workers who work in correctional facilities frequently have to assess and treat clients in solitary confinement (SC). SC is used as a procedure in correctional facilities for a variety of reasons including punishment, protection of the person, security of the institution, or for more intensive observation. In this article we have taken a fresh and critical view of the literature to attempt to delineate the effects of SC on mental health. The research in this area reveals mixed findings. Some studies extrapolate findings from social isolation experiments and the findings from prisoner of war (POW) camps. Many other studies have severe limitations. Most of the better studies suggest that SC is not harmful to the majority of people but conclude that some may be less resilient due to their personality construct or perhaps due to mental illness. Further research is needed to clarify this issue.     

Investigation into the usefulness of DNA profiling of earprints

DNA profiling of biological trace evidence has been used for many years. The application of this technique specifically to the DNA profiling of earprints has not to date been thoroughly investigated. This report presents the results of 60 earprints collected from three healthy adult volunteers under controlled laboratory conditions. DNA profile analysis revealed that high levels of non-donor alleles are observed when earprints are collected for DNA profiling. The source of these non-donor alleles is investigated and the impact that their presence within the profile may have on the use of this technique is discussed.     

SOME EXPLANATIONS FOR DISPARITIES IN LIFESAVING INVESTMENTS1

Recent cost-effectiveness studies have uncovered substantial disparities in lifesaving investments between federal agencies. An examination of OSHA and NHTSA policies suggests that such disparities are not necessarily the result of arbitrary or inadvertent decision making. The disparities may reflect both conscious social judgments about priorities in lifesaving policy and systematic patterns of political and bureaucratic behavior. The hypotheses advanced in this paper suggest that, while these cost-effectiveness studies ignore important social values, they are also useful in exposing systematic imperfections in political and regulatory decision making.     

An attributional examination of retributive versus utilitarian philosophies of punishment

Two basic goals of punishment—retribution and utility—and the means to those goals, including isolation, rehabilitation, and the creation of fear, were first examined. The objectives of punishment were then related to attributions regarding the cause of a transgression. It was documented that punishment goals are mediated by the expectancies and affects that are elicited by causal beliefs. It also was argued that the purposes of punishment are more state-like than trait-like, for they change as a function of the reason for a transgression. Data from three laboratory experiments, as well as a field study regarding reactions to O. J. Simpson for his alleged crimes, were presented in support of the above beliefs. In addition, the morality of retribution versus utilitarianism was discussed in the context of the caning of Michael Fay in Singapore. It is suggested that rehabilitation may be the most moral of the punishment means.