Coping strategies in dealing with the pathology of loneliness and the destruction of time experience in conditions of long-term solitary confinement (review of foreign experience)
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Context and relevance. Solitary confinement is systematically practiced in penal systems around the world despite the lack of scientifically proven criteria for its admissibility and clear evidence of its irreversible destructive effects on human psychophysiological health. As a result, it makes full resocialisation and reintegration impossible, increases the risk of recidivism, and reduces public safety. Objective. Systematisation of coping strategies used by convicts to deal with pathological loneliness and destructive time experience in long-term isolation, aimed at developing prevention and rehabilitation programmes for (former) prisoners. Hypothesis. Pathological loneliness and destructive time perception are not individual pathologies, but rather a systemic reaction of a healthy psyche to a violation of basic anthropological living conditions; at the same time, the psyche has adaptive potential that can be realised through specific coping strategies. Methods and materials. The research methodology is based on the method of thematic analysis of scientific publications and phenomenological synthesis of data in the study of autobiographical evidence of convicts. The theoretical framework is made up of ideas from existential psychology and the theory of stress and coping. Results. The components of ontological trauma caused by solitary confinement have been identified: 1) the historically conditioned transformation of humanistic reform into forms of psychological violence; 2) the universal pathology of loneliness as a biopsychological reaction to the destruction of human social nature; 3) the destruction of time experience. Coping strategies have been systematised and described. Conclusions. The systematisation and detailed development of coping strategies to deal with the traumatic experience caused by long-term solitary confinement is seen as the basis for preventive and rehabilitation programmes, providing opportunities for the gradual humanisation of penal practices and contributing strategically to strengthening and stabilising security in society by reducing recidivism rates.
Source: Psychology and Law
Author: N.V. Khismatulina
Language: English
Subfield: Sociology and Political Science
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W7214894510