Nautilus

Why the Teenage Brain Isn’t Built for Solitary Confinement

Johnny Perez was 16-years old when he was arrested for gun possession and admitted to Riker’s Island. Within months, he did his first round of solitary confinement: 60 days in a 60 square-foot cell. The punishment was for fighting to use the telephone.

Between the pushups, the jumping jacks, and the officers taunting him, the narrative running through Perez’s head

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