juveniles who are charged as adults and placed in adult prisons are usually put in protective custody, and often the conditions of protective custody are similar to those of solitary confinement. juvenile justice experts, social scientists, and national correctional standards all agree that solitary confinement is an “ineffective therapeutic tool” that is detrimental to juveniles who are still in an “uncertain, unformed state of social identity”. given that they are developing mentally and physically, some experts have suggested that “they are severely and permanently damaged by such conditions to a greater extent than adults”.