Deaths in isolation as prison segregation increases


The use of segregation of prisoners as punishment has been increasing recently in Australia, the US, and the UK. Segregation can be used for protection or punishment, but in both cases it results in extreme psychological stress. An indication that segregation is being over-used is the appearance of deaths in custody from suicide of those placed in segregation.

From New York: A Death in the Box. A mentally ill young woman died in the most stressful and isolating place in the New York state prison system. Jessica Roger, 21, killed herself in the "box" and many thought she didn't belong there.