Health and Incarceration

Health and Incarceration
Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
Total Pages: 67
Release: 2013-08-08
Genre: Law
ISBN: 0309287715

Over the past four decades, the rate of incarceration in the United States has skyrocketed to unprecedented heights, both historically and in comparison to that of other developed nations. At far higher rates than the general population, those in or entering U.S. jails and prisons are prone to many health problems. This is a problem not just for them, but also for the communities from which they come and to which, in nearly all cases, they will return. Health and Incarceration is the summary of a workshop jointly sponsored by the National Academy of Sciences(NAS) Committee on Law and Justice and the Institute of Medicine(IOM) Board on Health and Select Populations in December 2012. Academics, practitioners, state officials, and nongovernmental organization representatives from the fields of healthcare, prisoner advocacy, and corrections reviewed what is known about these health issues and what appear to be the best opportunities to improve healthcare for those who are now or will be incarcerated. The workshop was designed as a roundtable with brief presentations from 16 experts and time for group discussion. Health and Incarceration reviews what is known about the health of incarcerated individuals, the healthcare they receive, and effects of incarceration on public health. This report identifies opportunities to improve healthcare for these populations and provides a platform for visions of how the world of incarceration health can be a better place.

The Growth of Incarceration in the United States

The Growth of Incarceration in the United States
Author: Committee on Causes and Consequences of High Rates of Incarceration
Publisher: National Academies Press
Total Pages: 800
Release: 2014-12-31
Genre: Law
ISBN: 9780309298018

After decades of stability from the 1920s to the early 1970s, the rate of imprisonment in the United States has increased fivefold during the last four decades. The U.S. penal population of 2.2 million adults is by far the largest in the world. Just under one-quarter of the world's prisoners are held in American prisons. The U.S. rate of incarceration, with nearly 1 out of every 100 adults in prison or jail, is 5 to 10 times higher than the rates in Western Europe and other democracies. The U.S. prison population is largely drawn from the most disadvantaged part of the nation's population: mostly men under age 40, disproportionately minority, and poorly educated. Prisoners often carry additional deficits of drug and alcohol addictions, mental and physical illnesses, and lack of work preparation or experience. The growth of incarceration in the United States during four decades has prompted numerous critiques and a growing body of scientific knowledge about what prompted the rise and what its consequences have been for the people imprisoned, their families and communities, and for U.S. society. The Growth of Incarceration in the United States examines research and analysis of the dramatic rise of incarceration rates and its affects. This study makes the case that the United States has gone far past the point where the numbers of people in prison can be justified by social benefits and has reached a level where these high rates of incarceration themselves constitute a source of injustice and social harm. The Growth of Incarceration in the United States examines policy changes that created an increasingly punitive political climate and offers specific policy advice in sentencing policy, prison policy, and social policy. The report also identifies important research questions that must be answered to provide a firmer basis for policy. This report is a call for change in the way society views criminals, punishment, and prison. This landmark study assesses the evidence and its implications for public policy to inform an extensive and thoughtful public debate about and reconsideration of policies.

Incarceration and the Law, Cases and Materials

Incarceration and the Law, Cases and Materials
Author: Margo Schlanger
Publisher: West Academic Publishing
Total Pages: 1071
Release: 2020-05-29
Genre:
ISBN: 9781683287964

In the age of American mass incarceration, a complex legal regime governs prison conditions and presents a host of controversial questions at the intersection of constitutional liberty, statutory interpretation, administrative regulation, and public policy. This is a completely overhauled, re-titled, and much-expanded version of the leading casebook about incarceration. It addresses both pretrial and post-conviction incarceration, presenting Supreme Court and leading lower court case law, statutes, litigation materials, professional standards, academic commentary, and prisoner writing. Topics include conditions of confinement, civil liberties, particular prisoner populations and relevant legal issues (race and national origin discrimination, the particular issues/law governing treatment of incarcerated women, LGBTQ people, and people with disabilities). Litigated remedies (injunctive litigation, damages, the Prison Litigation Reform Act, and criminal prosecution of prison staff), are also covered in detail, as is non-litigation oversight. The casebook is supplemented by an open-access website that offers additional resources and sources for further reading.

Ethical Considerations for Research Involving Prisoners

Ethical Considerations for Research Involving Prisoners
Author: Committee on Ethical Considerations for Revisions to DHHS Regulations for Protection of Prisoners Involved in Research
Publisher: National Academies Press
Total Pages: 284
Release: 2007-01-22
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0309164605

In the past 30 years, the population of prisoners in the United States has expanded almost 5-fold, correctional facilities are increasingly overcrowded, and more of the country's disadvantaged populations—racial minorities, women, people with mental illness, and people with communicable diseases such as HIV/AIDS, hepatitis C, and tuberculosis—are under correctional supervision. Because prisoners face restrictions on liberty and autonomy, have limited privacy, and often receive inadequate health care, they require specific protections when involved in research, particularly in today's correctional settings. Given these issues, the Department of Health and Human Services' Office for Human Research Protections commissioned the Institute of Medicine to review the ethical considerations regarding research involving prisoners. The resulting analysis contained in this book, Ethical Considerations for Research Involving Prisoners, emphasizes five broad actions to provide prisoners involved in research with critically important protections: • expand the definition of "prisoner"; • ensure universally and consistently applied standards of protection; • shift from a category-based to a risk-benefit approach to research review; • update the ethical framework to include collaborative responsibility; and • enhance systematic oversight of research involving prisoners.

Measuring Racial Discrimination

Measuring Racial Discrimination
Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
Total Pages: 335
Release: 2004-07-24
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0309091268

Many racial and ethnic groups in the United States, including blacks, Hispanics, Asians, American Indians, and others, have historically faced severe discriminationâ€"pervasive and open denial of civil, social, political, educational, and economic opportunities. Today, large differences among racial and ethnic groups continue to exist in employment, income and wealth, housing, education, criminal justice, health, and other areas. While many factors may contribute to such differences, their size and extent suggest that various forms of discriminatory treatment persist in U.S. society and serve to undercut the achievement of equal opportunity. Measuring Racial Discrimination considers the definition of race and racial discrimination, reviews the existing techniques used to measure racial discrimination, and identifies new tools and areas for future research. The book conducts a thorough evaluation of current methodologies for a wide range of circumstances in which racial discrimination may occur, and makes recommendations on how to better assess the presence and effects of discrimination.

Prison Policy in Ireland

Prison Policy in Ireland
Author: Mary Rogan
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Total Pages: 265
Release: 2011-04
Genre: Law
ISBN: 1136811451

This book explores how Irish prison policy has come to take on its particular character, with comparatively low prison numbers, significant reliance on short sentences and a policy-making climate in which long periods of neglect are interspersed with bursts of political activity all prominent features. Drawing on the emerging scholarship of policy analysis, the book argues that it is only through close attention to the way in which policy is formed that we will fully understand the nature of prison policy.

The Effects of Incarceration and Reentry on Community Health and Well-Being

The Effects of Incarceration and Reentry on Community Health and Well-Being
Author: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
Total Pages: 89
Release: 2020-04-17
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 0309493668

The high rate of incarceration in the United States contributes significantly to the nation's health inequities, extending beyond those who are imprisoned to families, communities, and the entire society. Since the 1970s, there has been a seven-fold increase in incarceration. This increase and the effects of the post-incarceration reentry disproportionately affect low-income families and communities of color. It is critical to examine the criminal justice system through a new lens and explore opportunities for meaningful improvements that will promote health equity in the United States. The National Academies convened a workshop on June 6, 2018 to investigate the connection between incarceration and health inequities to better understand the distributive impact of incarceration on low-income families and communities of color. Topics of discussion focused on the experience of incarceration and reentry, mass incarceration as a public health issue, women's health in jails and prisons, the effects of reentry on the individual and the community, and promising practices and models for reentry. The programs and models that are described in this publication are all Philadelphia-based because Philadelphia has one of the highest rates of incarceration of any major American city. This publication summarizes the presentations and discussions of the workshop.

The Impact of Covid-19 on Prison Conditions and Penal Policy

The Impact of Covid-19 on Prison Conditions and Penal Policy
Author: Frieder Dünkel
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 588
Release: 2022-04-19
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1000553612

The Impact of COVID-19 on Prison Conditions and Penal Policy presents the results of a worldwide exchange of information on the impact of COVID-19 in prisons. It also focuses on the human rights questions that have been raised during the pandemic, relating to the treatment of prisoners in institutions for both juveniles and adults worldwide. The first part brings together the findings and conclusions of leading prison academics and practitioners, presenting national reports with information on the prison system, prison population rates, how COVID-19 was and is managed in prisons, and its impact on living conditions inside prisons and on reintegration programmes. Forty-four countries are covered – many in Europe, but also Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Perú, Costa Rica, Canada, the USA, Kenya, South Africa, China, India, Japan, Australia and New Zealand. In the second part, thematic chapters concentrate explicitly on the impact of the pandemic on the application of international human rights standards in prisons and on worldwide prison population rates. The book concludes by drawing out the commonalities and diverging practices between jurisdictions, discussing the impact of measures introduced and reflecting on what could be learnt from policies that emerged during the pandemic. Particular attention is paid to whether "reductionist" strategies that emerged during the pandemic can be used to counteract mass incarceration and prison overcrowding in the future. Although the book reflects the situation until mid 2021, after the second and during the third wave of the pandemic, it is highly relevant to the current situation, as the living conditions in prisons did not change significantly during the following waves, which showed high infection rates (in particular in the general population), but increased vaccination rates, too. In prisons, problems the pandemic raises have an even greater impact than for the general society. Revealing many notable and interesting changes in prison life and in release programmes, this book is essential reading for students and scholars of penology, criminology, law, sociology and public health. It will also appeal to criminal justice practitioners and policy makers.

The School-to-Prison Pipeline

The School-to-Prison Pipeline
Author: Nancy A. Heitzeg
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
Total Pages: 206
Release: 2016-04-11
Genre: Social Science
ISBN:

This book offers a research and comparison-driven look at the school-to-prison pipeline, its racial dynamics, the connections to mass incarceration, and our flawed educational climate—and suggests practical remedies for change. How is racism perpetuated by the education system, particularly via the "school-to-prison pipeline?" How is the school to prison pipeline intrinsically connected to the larger context of the prison industrial complex as well as the extensive and ongoing criminalization of youth of color? This book uniquely describes the system of policies and practices that racialize criminalization by routing youth of color out of school and towards prison via the school-to-prison pipeline while simultaneously medicalizing white youth for comparable behaviors. This work is the first to consider and link all of the research and data from a sociological perspective, using this information to locate racism in our educational systems; describe the rise of the so-called prison industrial complex; spotlight the concomitant expansion of the "medical-industrial complex" as an alternative for controlling the white and well-off, both adult and juveniles; and explore the significance of media in furthering the white racial frame that typically views people of color as "criminals" as an automatic response. The author also examines the racial dynamics of the school to prison pipeline as documented by rates of suspension, expulsion, and referrals to legal systems and sheds light on the comparative dynamics of the related educational social control of white and middle-class youth in the larger context of society as a whole.