Public Health And Mass Incarceration Analysis

As incarceration rates rise, health-related outcomes do as well. From 1970 to 2014, the U.S. prison population has risen 700% (Vera Institute of Justice) and by 2001, one in three Black men are sent to prison during their lifetime (Bonczar 5). Before disregarding prison health, it is important to first consider the implications on all of society. If we took better care of our prisoners, the entire U.S. population would be healthier. According to epidemiological studies conducted by the Population Studies Center, if the rate of U.S. incarceration in 1973 remained the same, there would be a 7.8% reduction in infant mortality by 2003 (Wildeman 2). 50% of all prisoners suffer from diagnosable mental illnesses (James and Glaze 1). Some of the most

We have prisons all over the United States that are overpopulated and this can lead to many problems. While being incarcerated for a crime, all inmates have the right to proper health care. When a person who is in prison gets sick, they do not have the liberty to make an appointment with a doctor, go to the emergency room, or even run down to the local pharmacy to get some over the counter medications. Inmates are solely at the hands of medical

Mass Incarceration is a huge problem in United States culture. No other country in the world incarcerates its population the way that America does. “The U.S. incarcerates more people than any country in the world – both per capita and in terms of total people behind bars. The U.S. has less than 5 percent of the world’s population, yet it has almost 25 percent of the world’s incarcerated population.” Worse yet the majority of the incarcerated individuals belong to a minority group despite not participating in illegal activity any more frequently than their white counterparts. Is the United States criminal justice system racist and if so what is the cause behind this racism. After the end of slavery, many southern black Americans traveled to the north to escape endless violence and discrimination. In the south they could only find low paying field jobs whereas in the northern cities there were steady factory jobs promised as well as the hope that discrimination could be escaped. The northerners while against slavery were not egalitarian and were not in favor of hoards of black Americans surging into their cities and taking jobs away from the white working poor. The need for social control by white Americans only grew with the population of black Americans living in the cities and working in the factories. The rhetoric of “law and order” first came about in the late 1950s as white opposition to the Civil Rights Movement was encouraged by southern governors and law enforcement.

Over the past few decades, the United States has witnessed a huge surge in the number of individuals in jail and in prison. Evidence suggests the mass imprisonment policy from the last 40 years was a horrible catastrophe. Putting more people in prison not only ruined lives, it disrupted families, prevented ex-prisoners to find housing, to get an education, or even a good job. Regrettably, the United States has a higher percent of its population incarcerated than any other country. America is responsible for a quarter of the world’s inmates, and its incarceration rate is increasing exponentially. The expense produced by these overcrowded prisons cost the country a substantial amount of money every year. Although people are incarcerated for a number of reasons, the country’s prisons are focused on punishment rather than reform, and the result is a misguided system that fails to rehabilitate criminals or discourage crime. By researching mass incarceration, I hope to get society to understand that incarcerating an individual not only effects the family, but we will look at the long term consequences on society and how the United States can remain safe and, at the same time, undo much of the damage that results from large-scale imprisonment.

According to the American Psychological Association, a 2014 article states, “Mental illness among today's inmates is also pervasive, with 64 percent of jail inmates, 54 percent of state prisoners and 45 percent of federal prisoners reporting mental health concerns” (Incarnation Nation). This statistic is appalling and should not be considered an acceptable number. More than half of jailers and prisoners report mental health concerns; this is static that should not be taken lightly and needs to be addressed. Mentally incarnated people and prison cells do not go well together; it creates a recipe for disaster for the individual suffering behind bars. The purpose of prison is to “retribution, incapacitation, deterrence and rehabilitation”

Finally, a concern with inadequate health care in prisons is that when prisoners are released, they will spread any contagious diseases and illnesses. They may also leave without having full control of their mental illnesses and that could compound into even larger issues when no longer incarcerated, as their access to society is not restricted.

Mass Incarceration is a predicament in the U.S. because in the land of the free, there are more than two million people in prison. Prisons are homes to the majority of twenty-two percent of the U.S. population. The U.S. has a massive incarceration rate, seven hundred and sixteen per every one hundred thousand. The U.S. makes five percent of the world’s population and the third country in which most people live in but number one incarcerating humans.

Linder and Frederick J. Meyers. This article starts with a story about an inmate who found out he had cancer while incarcerated. Then, it goes on to incorporate his story throughout the article in interview form to provide inside information on the treatment of prisoners. Most inmates come in with addictions and substance abuse, no access to health care, homelessness, and untreated mental illnesses (Linder and Meyers 895). They blame this on the lack of medical health that’s available to the general population. According to Linder and Meyers, “Inmates and the free-living populations share 6 of the 10 leading causes of death: heart disease, cancer, cerebrovascular disease, respiratory disease, influenza/pneumonia, and septicemia”. With the remaining four for inmates being liver disease, AIDS, self-harm and digestion

The criminal justice system has become an ad hoc medical and social service delivery institution with more than eight million offenders under correctional control. Offenders have more physical, substance-abuse disorders, social and psychological deficits than the general population. According to Estelle versus Gamble, correctional institutions are required to provide reasonable care for all offenders who are incarcerated. Other issues such as psychological and social services have become a burden. A recent survey of prison administrators sheds light on the capacity of offenders that needed medical, psychological, and social services for offenders. The survey also dissected the analysis of the organizational factors that may affect whether an

The incarcerated population are typically of low socioeconomic and low education levels. (4) Interestingly, low socioeconomic status and education levels on their own are directly linked with poor health. (5) When these social determinants of health are combined with prisonisation; the adaptation process in which incarcerated individuals adjust themselves to behavioural standards within the institutions which are not comparable with those of life outside prison.(6) This confines the already vulnerable to an environment of violence and drug use, which leads to further decline in health status while serving sentences. (1) In addition to the low socioeconomic status and education level of prison inmates, we can also establish that inmates are predominately male when compared to the

In the New York Times editorial, “End Mass Incarceration Now”, The Editorial Board argues that there needs to be an immediate stop in the amount of people being incarcerated because there is injustice and it is costing too much money for the United States. The Editorial Board begun by saying that mass incarceration is causing societal and economic damage. They say that the sole reason why there is mass incarceration is because of injustice. The Editorial Board backed up this mass incarceration by bringing up an interesting statistics report by the National Academy of Sciences that stated how there has been a vast increase of the prison population in the United States since the late 1900s. The Editorial Board then mentioned how a big chunk of these prisoners were sentenced to prison for committing nonviolent crimes. They explain that the reasons for this is because of harsh sentencing due to politicians not wanting to be soft on crimes and the United States using incarceration as a way to solve its problems, based on a report by the Human Rights Watch. This all brings up the point that there is injustice in the United

What is mass incarceration? Mass incarceration is the process by which people are brought into the criminal justice system and put in prison. Since the 1970’s, incarceration rates in the U.S have risen at an exponential rate and are at an all time high today. In the 1970’s President Nixon declared a war on drugs. This war lead to massive police force and prison expansion. The law cracked down hard on on all drug offences, and in 1986 established mandatory minimum sentencing guidelines for all drug use. According to the American Civil Liberties Union, “nearly 50% of all prisoners in state prisons are locked up for nonviolent crimes”[3] such as drug use. The time spent in prison in the U.S is, on average, longer than that of all other countries that incarcerate people who have been convicted of crimes. Despite the U.S housing only about 5% of the world's population, it accounts for nearly 25% of all incarcerated people in the world. The rise of mass incarceration in the U.S has led to serious racial, economic and social problems.

There are approximately 1,600,000 million inmates are behind bars in America (Glazer, 2014, para. 11) . Without a doubt, much of state prisons are overcrowded, which can lead to, very dangerous situations and environments. Due to the overwhelming number of inmates incarcerated it is difficult to deal with medical and mental health problems in prison. If most inmates complain about not feeling well or have symptoms, medical condition or disease that is not immediately, they would get some form of medication and get turned life back without seeing a doctor for a proper medical exam. A clear majority of the health care professional that work in the prison systems are very under qualified to work in such dangerous and trauma environments like prisons

Having poor heath care within the prison system is something that is very dangerous. It can lead to things such as accidental deaths, worsening pre-existing conditions, and conditions occurring that could have been prevented if the proper care was

Dominique Robert’s (2008) theoretical framework in the article “Prison and/as Public Health. Prison and Inmates as Vectors of Health in the New Public Health Era. The Case of Canadian Penitentiaries” focuses on structural elements that explain the use of correctional health care in the prison setting today and how this plays a role in the broader public health strategies in the outside community. He does this by explaining factors such as “the mobilisation of prison as a tool for the new public health” and "the production of inmates into healthcare ‘consumers’, along with the role of actuarial justice.”