Solitary confinement was once seen as emancipatory, not torturous

Evidence

Why would eighteenth- and nineteenth-century reformers become so invested in creating conditions of punishment based on solitary confinement? Today, aside from death, solitary confinement—next to torture, or as a form of torture—is considered the worst form of punishment imagina ble. Then, however, it was assumed to have an emancipatory effect. The body was placed in conditions of segregation and solitude in order to allow the soul to flourish. — Davis, Angela Y, Are Prisons Obsolete, 121

Categorization

• QUESTION: Useful counterpoint: how did the moral meaning of solitude invert so completely across two centuries?
• XREF: connects to: Imprisonment only became conceivable once individual rights were recognized; Slavery’s abolition parallels the conceivable abolition of prisons; Early prisons held mostly men because women lacked rights to lose — Davis, Angela Y, Are Prisons Obsolete, 112 (+1 more)

Related

• The penitentiary mirrored chattel slavery in its structure and daily regime. (similarity 0.79)
• Early prisons held mostly men because women lacked rights to lose (similarity 0.79)
• Isolation plus supervised assembly was meant to train prisoners into social individuals (similarity 0.78)
• The penitentiary made incarceration itself the punishment for the first time. (similarity 0.78)

Broader Connections

• Imprisonment only became conceivable once individual rights were recognized #qualifies (0.65)
• Early prisons held mostly men because women lacked rights to lose #corroborates (0.55) — Davis, Angela Y, Are Prisons Obsolete, 112
• Slavery’s abolition parallels the conceivable abolition of prisons #corroborates (0.50)