Do prisoners in so-called Supermax prisons suffer a “psychic death”? A Nietzschean solution

Matoo, Anil Singh (2026). Do prisoners in so-called Supermax prisons suffer a “psychic death”? A Nietzschean solution. University of Birmingham. Ph.D.

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Abstract

This thesis examines the experience of prisoners in prolonged solitary confinement in so-called Supermax prisons in the United States of America. The philosophical study of the Supermax prison is an emerging area particularly in relation to the psychological welfare of prisoners incarcerated in such an environment. Most psychiatric and psychological studies indicate that Supermax confinement harms the prisoner. This psychological harm is recognised in the American judiciary but the Supreme Court has not declared the punishment to constitute a violation of the ‘cruel and unusual’ clause in the Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Consequently, several philosophical theories have developed that argue that prolonged solitary confinement not only harms the prisoner but amounts to a psychological or ‘psychic’ death. The inceptual and foremost of these theories is argued by Colin Dayan. Dayan draws on the psychiatric studies into the Supermax and John Locke’s philosophy on memory and personal identity to argue that Supermax inmates experience a ‘psychic death.’

This thesis argues that there are flaws in Dayan’s Lockean ‘psychic death’ argument. Instead, I argue that it is more defensible to argue that Supermax prison results in what Friedrich Nietzsche would term a ‘negation’ of psychological life. Crucially, I argue that the psychiatric evidence indicates that inmates do not suffer a psychological death but rather their psychological life is negated and ‘stifled’ in the sense in which Nietzsche uses those terms. For Dayan, the term ‘death’ implies that the inmate’s psychological life is permanently lost.

By exploring the psychiatric studies into the Supermax through a Nietzschean lens, I argue that in fact the inmate’s psychological life is not permanently lost. Rather, the inmate’s original psychological life collapses and re-emerges as a violent and destructive one due to the austere Supermax environment.

From this Nietzschean framework, my thesis intends to further advance Justice Kennedy’s ‘workable alternatives’ solution in Davis v. Ayala [2015] 576 U.S. 257 and the recommendations made by Jules Lobel. Despite Justice Kennedy’s solution and Lobel’s recommendation to limit the use of prolonged solitary confinement, both perspectives fail to recognise the harm that Supermax confinement has on a prisoner’s psychological life. This thesis aims to develop their positions by acknowledging the psychological harm that Supermax confinement has on inmates and why this punishment should be limited. One major objective of this thesis is to provide an incentive for penal regimes to restrict their use of Supermax confinement because the re-emergence of a violent psychological life presents a threat to the penal order and to the safety of correctional officers.

Type of Work:

Thesis (Doctorates > Ph.D.)

Award Type:

Doctorates > Ph.D.

Supervisor(s):