This international conference will address international and cross-disciplinary perspectives on prolonged solitary confinement. It will bring together leading legal academics, UN officials, social and political scientists, prison experts, prison managers in Europe and the United States, psychologists, neuroscientists, former prisoners and activists from around the world to discuss the legality, advisability, history, and alternatives to solitary confinement. Specific themes to be explored in-depth include: the international legal norms with respect to solitary confinement of prisoners; the experiences of various countries both historically and in the current context with the use of solitary confinement; the psychological, medical and neurological effects of long term solitary confinement; new and cutting edge research showing that social isolation not only has mental effects, but physical and neurological impacts as well; and the penological alternatives to solitary confinement.