BBC This World - Life in Solitary

BBC This World - Life in Solitary



In America, thousands of prisoners are locked up in solitary confinement for years, even decades. With unique access to the punishment wing of a supermax prison, award-winning director Dan Edge paints a shocking picture of this hidden and often violent world.

Filmed over six months in Maine State Prison, this film follows the institution's new warden as he tries to reform the system and release some of the prison's most dangerous inmates back into the general population. Unsurprisingly, some of his staff are nervous and resistant to the reforms and he faces a prison culture which has always emphasised punishment over rehabilitation. The film also features younger inmates, inside for less serious crimes, who are driven to shocking self-harm and even suicide by the mental stress of being locked up alone for 24 hours a day.

Duration: 59 minutes

Credits

Director : Dan Edge
Executive Producer: Sam Bagnall
Series Producer : Sarah Waldron
Producer : Elizabeth C. Jones

First Broadcast : BBC 2, Sun 21 Sep 2014

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04jjyh5