Imagine being confined in a small dark room for days, weeks or even months. You have no one to speak to, and have nothing available to read, watch or listen to. To much alarm, many young offenders are held in solitary confinement in youth detention centres across Australia.

‘Segregated custody’ as it is formally referred to in Australia, involves a person being placed in a closed cell for at least 22 hours a day, without human interaction. Alarmingly, increasing evidence suggests that solitary confinement has devastating impacts on the mental and physical wellbeing on young offenders.

Professor Thalia Anthony from the Faculty of Law at the University of Technology Sydney joined us to discuss the harmful effects of solitary confinement on young offenders.