All Alone: The Impacts of Lack of Communication on Identity in Solitary Confinement: A Graduate School Research Proposal

There are currently over 2 million people in the United States incarceration system. At any given time there are approximately 80,000 individuals in solitary confinement. Previous academic studies have investigated the relationship between mental health and solitary confinement. This work seeks to understand communication and identity in relation to those who experience solitary confinement from a communications perspective. Theoretical frameworks from Marx, Foucault, Social Construct Theory, and Face theory are drawn to produce a baseline for concepts in addressing these issues. This work proposes using an indigenous mixed methodology to conduct work. This graduate research proposal presents a research project that examines the effects of lack of communication on identity to those who experience solitary confinement in the incarceration system in the U.S.