Introduction:
A wide range of health issues are connected to incarceration in the study of detention and health. In a literature study, Massoglia and Pridemore found a harmful association between incarceration and health issues. The experience of incarceration (exposure) often has a higher impact on health than the period of imprisonment, as seen by the high levels of self-reported chronic diseases that are related to incarceration. Studies in this field have taken into account a variety of unique illnesses, such as infectious disease, cardiovascular disease, weight gain, hypertension, and cancer, in addition to fundamental health factors like physical functioning. Compared to the general population, people who are now incarcerated or have been incarcerated have a higher risk of developing several chronic health disorders.
Studies have revealed an enhanced risk of bad health conditions and mortality immediately and years after release from jail, further demonstrating the raised risk of poor health conditions and mortality. Most research finds little difference by race or gender, but some studies suggest otherwise. In general, incarceration is related to worse health for all formerly jailed individuals than never incarcerated individuals. For instance, the link between imprisonment and death generally seems larger for women than males and white people than for black people. In other words, women who have experienced incarceration have a higher probability of dying than men who have experienced incarceration, and the same is true of white people compared to black people.
What Are the Potential Mechanisms for the Link Between Incarceration and Health?
The study concentrated on the most well-known paths in social science literature, even though numerous connect incarceration and health. Social science research increases understanding of the relationships between incarceration and health by showing how disparities, both those that already exist and those that come from incarceration, affect the incarceration-health correlation. These routes include stress, contagion, reintegration difficulties, and social integration. Although jailed populations have disproportionately poor health, some incarcerated people may have had bad health regardless of incarceration. Selection processes (i.e., prior poor health) also account for a component of the incarceration-health link. In a broader sense, these different pathways collaborate to influence health. Due to the economic marginalization that prisoners experience upon their release from jail, reintegration difficulties are linked to health issues.
Because of the stress and difficulties with social integration brought on by the economic marginalization that released prisoners experience, reintegration challenges have connections to health. While each mechanism is described individually, it is common for individuals currently or formerly incarcerated to exhibit multiple risk factors concurrently. Many of these processes, like stress, are analogous to elements within the prison and after release. For instance, stress is expected to increase as prisoners adjust to life after release because jail is a harsh place. A discussion was held focusing on the mechanisms themselves, noting where necessary whether a particular tool was more important in an institutional environment or the outside world.
Both acute stressors (i.e., a rapid occurrence that changes your life, like a divorce or losing your work) and chronic stressors (i.e., a long-term source of hardship, like a skill or education gap) can have an adverse effect on your health. Years of studies have shown that entering and leaving prison is devastating regarding acute stressors. For instance, when jailed individuals first enter prison, they must adjust to various factors, including limited sleeping schedules, being apart from loved ones, interacting with other inmates, and losing their independence.
What Are the Positive Consequences of Incarceration?
Even though numerous studies have identified a link between incarceration and poor health, certain studies indicate a net positive relationship for specific demographic groups.25 For some groups, confinement conditions can result in a reduction in risk factors. Conditions of confinement, such as regular meals and heated living quarters, may be preferable to living conditions outside of prison for incarcerated people and, as a result, may provide some potential health benefits (such as improved health functioning and a lower mortality rate). Young black men who experience incarceration, specifically, demonstrate a comparatively lower overall mortality rate due to a decreased likelihood of accidental or homicidal deaths. Additionally, confinement may free some women from toxic relationships or grant them access to preventive healthcare, which can improve their health. Any health advantages of incarceration depend on the fact that some demographic groups in the US (United States) are more disadvantaged than others, which is a reality of US inequality. For other people, however, incarceration results in a net improvement in some medical diseases, therapies, or risk factors.
What Are the Combining Social Science and Medical Research in the Link Between Incarceration and Health?
Moving the literature ahead depends on social science and medical research convergence. Our sociological method for investigating the link between incarceration and health benefited from researchers' findings in other fields. We had to reevaluate several core social science research assumptions because of knowledge from the medical profession.
Consider the drawbacks of using self-reported measurements, a common practice in social science research. For instance, social desirability and memory error may affect how various behaviors, such as those related to health (such as substance use), are reported.
Despite these drawbacks, research frequently uses self-reported measures. It demonstrates that people who have been jailed in the past perform significantly worse on several self-reported health conditions than people who have never been incarcerated.
According to studies, people who have spent time behind bars experience higher rates of sickness and mortality than the general population. People who are incarcerated have a high prevalence of mental health issues, substance use disorders, chronic and non-communicable diseases (including hypertension, diabetes, and asthma), and communicable diseases (such as hepatitis, HIV (human immunodeficiency virus), and tuberculosis). The majority of people who were released from correctional facilities had at least one physical, mental, or substance use issue, according to a representative sample of these people. Nearly 40 percent of men and more than 60 percent of women in this cohort also had several health issues. Prompt and ongoing management of these conditions frequently becomes neglected after reentering society because people who have served time in prison have trouble getting health insurance, locating a primary care physician, scheduling appointments, and getting prescriptions refilled. In the first few weeks after release, a person is especially vulnerable to morbidity and mortality because of barriers to health treatment.
Conclusion:
A mounting body of evidence suggests a correlation between being incarcerated and its impact on health. However, the intricate relationships between incarceration and health, both inside and outside prison, are still being studied. More study is required to comprehend these pathways better because of their complexity. With over 641,000 inmates being released yearly, the number of ex-offenders in society is still rising. Hence, it is imperative for future research to comprehend the correlation between incarceration and health, along with identifying potential policy interventions and strategies that can enhance the well-being of incarcerated individuals.
