I usually thought about it in an abstract way, or in one where I thought the prisoners "deserved" it. This is what I believed when I first walked through the doors of the prison hall, even though I never made my opinions known. However, it only took one lesson for my entire outlook on the subject to change. Solitary confinement is a terrible place for any prisoner to be in, regardless of what people consider their crime. It is a place that could drive a person to madness, deprivation of human contact and, if analyzed thoroughly, could be seen as sensory deprivation. Four white walls in a tiny room, with or without a window, giving only the feeling of the bed, the floors and the walls (if you don't give them the luxury of a book), and so on. If these conditions were imposed on a person who has never committed a crime in his life, it would be considered cruel and unusual, almost inhumane punishment. But for a prisoner it's normal. It is seen as a punishment for being a bad criminal, this punishment is also normal for prisoners. It only hurts its victims and can be seen as a deterrent, if it doesn't drive people crazy (or maybe that's what the correctional system wanted to do).