The Issue
I want to study how solitary confinement affects the mental health of incarcerated transgender people. Additionally, I want to find out if these effects are different from those that cisgender people placed in solitary confinement face. Through this research, I hope to understand why some people support solitary confinement of transgender people in prisons as a protective measure. I will try to understand solitary confinement not only from the view of transgender people, but of prison guards who have to make quick decisions. I want to help my reader understand how transgender people experience prison differently and how solitary confinement is inhumane.
Methodology
To gather research, I will use quantitative methods to provide statistical analysis, specifically relating to mental health struggles and violence faced by transgender inmates. I will also focus on a case study, Layleen Polanco, to help my audience form empathy towards transgender incarcerated folks by means of visual imagery, quotations, and story-telling. I will structure my essay as if it is a supplemental chapter of Just Mercy with a case study surrounded by statistics to make an overarching argument, similarly to his chapter on the young boy sent to solitary confinement after being sexually assaulted. The sources I have gathered so far include data from non-profts such as the National Center for Transgender Equality and the ACLU. I will also use journal articles from Duke University Press, Epidemiologic Reviews, the American Public Health Association, the Journal of Race Gender and Ethnicity, and more.
WC: 248
Pledge: AJD
I like the clear, sharp focus of this topic, as well as the thoughtful methodology. Combining statistics with a case study will help you work well with Stevenson’s chapter as a model structure for your own argument.