Dr. Jo Rees
Spring 2020
SWK 132
Assignment 1
There are 3 questions for you to respond to in your paper
Question 1: Discuss the topic/population/issue presented in the article
For example:
If you are interested in Criminal Justice – there is a website article on The Marshall Project that
discusses the experience of a former prisoner who was detained in solitary confinement for 22 years. The
article discusses the mental health impact of being in solitary confinement.
https://www.themarshallproject.org/2019/05/30/i-developed-agoraphobia-in-prison
Another website article on Vox that discusses human rights and solitary confinement is:
https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2019/4/17/18305109/solitary-confinement-prison-criminal-justice-
reform
This article discusses the mental and physical health harms of the use of solitary confinement – and also
the fact that this disproportionately affects African American and Hispanic youth and adults – who are
represented in larger numbers in the juvenile and criminal justice systems in the US. The article calls for
the practice of solitary confinement to be abolished.
Your response to Question 1 should include discussing the topic (solitary confinement) – including
discussing what solitary confinement is and the impact it has on people who are held in solitary
confinement in jails and prisons in the US (population – people in prison).
Question 2: Identify and discuss the the ONE article you chose from the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights that you think is relevant to your chosen newspaper/website article as an example
of a violation of human rights.
For example:
If you chose an article on solitary confinement, from your reading of the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights – you can see that Article 5 states:
“No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment”
As well as identifying the ONE article from the Universal of Declaration of Human Rights, your answer to
Question 2 should include a discussion of why it is a violation of human rights.
Question 3: Why did you choose this newspaper/website article?
For example:
Perhaps this is a topic that you are interested in – or would like to find out more about. Your answer to
Question 3 could include a response to the following:
Why did you choose the article?
Why do you think it is important to raise awareness about this issue as a violation of human
rights?
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