IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/oup/crimin/v61y2021i6p1630-1646..html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Incarceration as a Fundamental Social Cause of Health Inequalities: Jails, Prisons and Vulnerability to COVID-19
[‘Flattening the Curve for Incarcerated Populations—Covid-19 in Jails and Prisons’]

Author

Listed:
  • Meghan A Novisky
  • Kathryn M Nowotny
  • Dylan B Jackson
  • Alexander Testa
  • Michael G Vaughn

Abstract

Although research has established the disproportionate health burdens among incarcerated persons, the literature has yet to identify a theoretical framework for outlining the harms of incarceration associated with pandemics. We advance the literature theoretically by arguing two points. First, we assert that incarceration is a potent structural driver of health inequalities that must be considered as a fundamental social cause of disease. To underscore this point, we review how incarceration meets each of the four fundamental social cause criteria originally proposed by Link and Phelan. Second, given that incarceration is a fundamental social cause of disease, both currently and formerly incarcerated populations are likely to face heightened vulnerabilities to pandemics, including COVID-19, further exacerbating health disparities among incarceration-exposed groups.

Suggested Citation

  • Meghan A Novisky & Kathryn M Nowotny & Dylan B Jackson & Alexander Testa & Michael G Vaughn, 2021. "Incarceration as a Fundamental Social Cause of Health Inequalities: Jails, Prisons and Vulnerability to COVID-19 [‘Flattening the Curve for Incarcerated Populations—Covid-19 in Jails and Prisons’]," The British Journal of Criminology, Centre for Crime and Justice Studies, vol. 61(6), pages 1630-1646.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:crimin:v:61:y:2021:i:6:p:1630-1646.
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/bjc/azab023
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Devah Pager, 2003. "The mark of a criminal record," Natural Field Experiments 00319, The Field Experiments Website.
    2. Daniel Weiss & Håvard T Rydland & Emil Øversveen & Magnus Rom Jensen & Solvor Solhaug & Steinar Krokstad, 2018. "Innovative technologies and social inequalities in health: A scoping review of the literature," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(4), pages 1-20, April.
    3. repec:aph:ajpbhl:10.2105/ajph.2017.303703_5 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. Hatzenbuehler, M.L. & Phelan, J.C. & Link, B.G., 2013. "Stigma as a fundamental cause of population health inequalities," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 103(5), pages 813-821.
    5. Sebastian Daza & Alberto Palloni & Jerrett Jones, 2020. "The Consequences of Incarceration for Mortality in the United States," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 57(2), pages 577-598, April.
    6. Sun, Shufang & Crooks, Natasha & Kemnitz, Rebecca & Westergaard, Ryan P., 2018. "Re-entry experiences of Black men living with HIV/AIDS after release from prison: Intersectionality and implications for care," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 211(C), pages 78-86.
    7. Mackenbach, Johan P. & Kulhánová, Ivana & Bopp, Matthias & Deboosere, Patrick & Eikemo, Terje A. & Hoffmann, Rasmus & Kulik, Margarete C. & Leinsalu, Mall & Martikainen, Pekka & Menvielle, Gwenn & Reg, 2015. "Variations in the relation between education and cause-specific mortality in 19 European populations: A test of the “fundamental causes” theory of social inequalities in health," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 51-62.
    8. Rosen, D.L. & Schoenbach, V.J. & Wohl, D.A., 2008. "All-cause and cause-specific mortality among men released from state prison, 1980-2005," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 98(12), pages 2278-2284.
    9. Winkelman, T.N.A. & Choi, H.J. & Davis, M.M., 2017. "The affordable care act, insurance coverage, and health care utilization of previously incarcerated young men: 2008-2015," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 107(5), pages 807-811.
    10. Magee, C.G. & Hult, J.R. & Turalba, R. & McMillan, S., 2005. "Preventive care for women in prison: A qualitative community health assessment of the Papanicolaou test and follow-up treatment at a California state woments prison," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 95(10), pages 1712-1717.
    11. Wilper, A.P. & Woolhandler, S. & Boyd, J.W. & Lasser, K.E. & McCormick, D. & Bor, D.H. & Himmelstein, D.U., 2009. "The health and health care of US prisoners: Results of a nationwide survey," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 99(4), pages 666-672.
    12. Maruschak, L.M. & Sabol, W.J. & Potter, R.H. & Reid, L.C. & Cramer, E.W., 2009. "Pandemic influenza and jail facilities and populations," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 99(S2), pages 339-344.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Wilson Albert Appiah, 2024. "Examining the Access to Healthcare Among Inmates In Ghana Since 1992: A Case Study on Manhyia Local Prison," International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), vol. 8(8), pages 2819-2833, August.
    2. Fahmy, Chantal & Mitchell, Meghan M., 2022. "Examining recidivism during reentry: Proposing a holistic model of health and wellbeing," Journal of Criminal Justice, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    3. Semenza, Daniel C. & Silver, Ian A., 2022. "Stuck in the cycle? Assessing a reciprocal model of incarceration, health, and relative risk over twenty-five years," Journal of Criminal Justice, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Connor M. Sheehan, 2019. "Education and Health Conditions Among the Currently Incarcerated and the Non-incarcerated Populations," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 38(1), pages 73-93, February.
    2. Becky Pettit & Carmen Gutierrez, 2018. "Mass Incarceration and Racial Inequality," American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 77(3-4), pages 1153-1182, May.
    3. Sebastian Daza & Alberto Palloni & Jerrett Jones, 2020. "The Consequences of Incarceration for Mortality in the United States," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 57(2), pages 577-598, April.
    4. Semenza, Daniel C. & Testa, Alexander M. & Jackson, Dylan B. & Vaughn, Michael G., 2021. "Incarceration and cardiovascular health: Multiple mechanisms within an intersectional framework," Journal of Criminal Justice, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    5. Qi Li & Cynthia G. Colen, 2024. "Racial Disparities in the Relationship Between Parental Incarceration and Childhood Obesity," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 43(4), pages 1-22, August.
    6. Allison Dwyer Emory, 2019. "Unintended Consequences: Protective State Policies and the Employment of Fathers with Criminal Records," Working Papers wp19-04-ff, Princeton University, School of Public and International Affairs, Center for Research on Child Wellbeing..
    7. Steven Raphael, 2014. "The New Scarlet Letter? Negotiating the U.S. Labor Market with a Criminal Record," Books from Upjohn Press, W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research, number nsc, December.
    8. Omar Al-Ubaydli & John A. List, 2019. "How natural field experiments have enhanced our understanding of unemployment," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 3(1), pages 33-39, January.
    9. Mayank Aggarwal & Anindya S. Chakrabarti & Chirantan Chatterjee, 2023. "Movies, stigma and choice: Evidence from the pharmaceutical industry," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(5), pages 1019-1039, May.
    10. Karen M. Davison & Vidhi Thakkar & Shen (Lamson) Lin & Lorna Stabler & Maura MacPhee & Simon Carroll & Benjamin Collins & Zachary Rezler & Jake Colautti & Chaoqun (Cherry) Xu & Esme Fuller-Thomson & B, 2021. "Interventions to Support Mental Health among Those with Health Conditions That Present Risk for Severe Infection from Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19): A Scoping Review of English and Chinese-Langu," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(14), pages 1-22, July.
    11. Alaimo, Leonardo Salvatore & Ivaldi, Enrico & Landi, Stefano & Maggino, Filomena, 2022. "Measuring and evaluating socio-economic inequality in small areas: An application to the urban units of the Municipality of Genoa," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    12. Garthwaite, Kayleigh & Bambra, Clare, 2017. "“How the other half live”: Lay perspectives on health inequalities in an age of austerity," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 187(C), pages 268-275.
    13. Andrew Leigh, 2020. "The Second Convict Age: Explaining the Return of Mass Imprisonment in Australia," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 96(313), pages 187-208, June.
    14. Layland, Eric K. & Maggs, Jennifer L. & Kipke, Michele D. & Bray, Bethany C., 2022. "Intersecting racism and homonegativism among sexual minority men of color: Latent class analysis of multidimensional stigma with subgroup differences in health and sociostructural burdens," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 293(C).
    15. OKONKWO, Nnamdi Sylvester & EBIE, Sunday Onyekwuma, 2024. "Allegations of Racial Identity Factor in Job Placement in Germany: Africans in the Diaspora Experience," International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), vol. 8(4), pages 1917-1925, April.
    16. Erin Hatton, 2024. "Work Therapy: Extractive Labour as Therapeutic Intervention," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 38(2), pages 399-417, April.
    17. Magnus Lofstrom & Steven Raphael, 2016. "Crime, the Criminal Justice System, and Socioeconomic Inequality," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 30(2), pages 103-126, Spring.
    18. Amanda Agan & Sonja Starr, 2016. "Ban the Box, Criminal Records, and Statistical Discrimination: A Field Experiment," Working Papers 598, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Industrial Relations Section..
    19. Dworsky, Amy & Gitlow, Elissa, 2017. "Employment outcomes of young parents who age out of foster care," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 133-140.
    20. Devah Pager, 2007. "The Use of Field Experiments for Studies of Employment Discrimination: Contributions, Critiques, and Directions for the Future," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 609(1), pages 104-133, January.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:oup:crimin:v:61:y:2021:i:6:p:1630-1646.. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Oxford University Press (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://academic.oup.com/bjc .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.