another aspect of their identity that is destroyed is their ability to form relationships with others. in most societies, women are perceived as being particularly social; having relationships with other people is seen as an essential element of their role as women in particular. this is of course impossible when in solitary confinement. it has been argued that this has a harmful effect on women especially. these conclusions were drawn from interviews with women who were still in solitary confinement, women who had been in solitary but had since been transferred back to the general prison population, and women who had been in solitary but had been released from incarceration, suggesting that these effects carry over beyond their time in segregation.