Hell is a very small place : voices from solitary confinement / edited by Jean Casella, James Ridgeway, Sarah Shourd ; preface by Sarah Shourd ; introduction by Jean Casella and James Ridgeway ; afterword by Juan E. Méndez.
Exposing torture / Juan E. Méndez. Introduction / Jean Casella and James Ridgeway Voices from solitary confinement. Enduring. Sentence worse than death / William Blake -- Living in the SHU / C.F. Villa -- Innocent in the eyes of the law / Uzair Paracha -- On the verge of hell / Judith Vazquez -- Supermax diary / Joseph Dole -- Resisting. Writing out of solitude / Shaka Senghor -- Loneliness is a destroyer of humanity / Jesse Wilson -- Tale of evolving resistance / Todd Lewis Ashker -- Dream house / Herman Wallace -- Nothing would do as well / Thomas Bartlett Whitaker -- Surviving. Weak as motherfuckers / Brian Nelson -- Scarred by solitary/ Enceno Macy -- Fragile shell of who I used to be / Barbra Perez -- Freshman / Galen Baughman -- Because I could laugh / Dolores Canales -- Invisible / Five Mualimn-ak -- Perspectives on solitary confinement. Psychiatric effects of solitary confinement / Stuart Grassian -- How to create madness in prison / Terry Kupers -- Solitary confinement and the law / Laura Rovner -- Torture of a student / Jeanne Theoharis -- California SHU and the end of the world / Lisa Guenther -- Exposing torture / Juan E. Méndez.
Summary:
"The UN Special Rapporteur on Torture has denounced the use of solitary confinement beyond fifteen days as a form of cruel and degrading treatment that often rises to the level of torture. Yet the United States holds more than eighty thousand people in isolation on any given day. Now sixteen authors vividly describe the miserable realities of life in solitary. In a book that will add a startling new dimension to the debates around human rights and prison reform, former and current prisoners describe the devastating effects of solitary confinement on their minds and bodies, the solidarity expressed between individuals who live side by side for years without ever meeting one another face to face, the ever-present specters of madness and suicide, and the struggle to maintain hope and humanity. These firsthand accounts are supplemented by the writing of noted experts, exploring the psychological, legal, ethical, and political dimensions of solitary confinement, and a comprehensive introduction by James Ridgeway and Jean Casella. Sarah Shourd, herself a survivor of more than a year of solitary confinement, writes eloquently in a preface about an experience that changed her life."-- Provided by publisher.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.