Effects Of Incarceration Research Articles

Deaths in jail: a retrospective analysis of autopsies performed at the Legal Medicine Unit of Pavia (1999-2022).

The high rate of incarceration, now exceeding 11.5 million people worldwide, has raised concerns about the conditions within penal institutions, such as the consequences of incarceration on the person. This retrospective study aims to investigate the issue of death in custody, exploring the relationship between incarceration, health vulnerabilities, and death from the forensic pathologist's point of view. We analyzed, from a forensic, clinical and toxicological perspective, 86 cases of deaths in detention facilities in North-Western Italy from 1999 to 2022. The analysis has shown that suicide, mainly committed by hanging, plastic bag suffocation and butane intoxication, represents the leading type of violent death (52%), followed by accidental deaths (16%). On the other hand, cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of natural deaths (42%), followed by infectious diseases (especially HIV-related). The present study identifies the most frequent and critical situations and risk factors related to death in custody and the profile of the inmate who is at a higher risk of death, allowing to highlight the issues to be addressed from a public health point of view. On the whole, it calls for comprehensive reforms, aligned with international human rights standards, addressing mental and physical care gaps, improving correctional officers' education, and training, and focusing on rehabilitation with well-being and dignity.

“Made a world of a difference”: mental health services in incarcerated settings

The consequences of incarceration on currently and formerly confined individuals has been well documented. However, the loved ones of those incarcerated are an often-overlooked population. Specifically, the mental health challenges of those with an incarcerated loved one are often disregarded. By interviewing members of an online support group on Facebook, this study aims to amplify the voices of individuals with an incarcerated loved one and understand their perception of mental health professionals, for both themselves, as well as their incarcerated loved one through their lived experience. The theme, mental health services, encompassed the codes of repercussions, beneficial, lack of treatment, needing therapy, and efficacy. Each code will be discussed in-depth, with limitations and future directions included.

Risk factors for all-cause, natural, and unnatural deaths among individuals released from state prison

Individuals released from prison have an elevated risk of premature death, especially during the first few weeks after release. Furthermore, these consequences of incarceration may be exacerbated by racial and ethnic disparities. This study examines three types of post-release mortality – all-cause mortality, natural deaths, and unnatural deaths which include accidents, suicides, and homicides – among individuals released from Minnesota state prisons in order to identify characteristics and experiences that place individuals at risk. In addition, we conduct race-specific models examining these types of mortality among White, Black, and Native American releasees. The results of Cox regression models show several personal characteristics, custodial factors, and circumstances of release are related to risk of death. The results also show that, while many risk or protective factors appear to be universal, some race-specific risk factors do exist.

“Who Are You Really Punishing?”: Mothers’ Experiences With an Incarcerated Son

The consequences of incarceration are not solely reserved for the individual incarcerated, rather the impacts of incarceration have been shown to extend to the entire family system. The parent-child relationship is multifaceted and necessitates empirical evidence that significantly honors the voices that are at the center of experience but typically silenced by the stigma and prejudice nature of incarceration. Via a phenomenological approach, mothers of incarcerated adult sons were interviewed. Five themes emerged from eight interviews: emotional impact, barriers and challenges for families, mental health services, systemic issues, and advocacy and support. Our findings inform clinical implications for mental health professionals working with the incarcerated population. We provided recommendations on how to best advocate for this population through research, clinical work, and policy.

Experiences of Elderly Mothers of Prisoners of Kashmir

The consequences of incarceration are not only borne by the imprisoned individual but significantly reverberate in the lives of their family members. Limited research has been conducted on the mothers of prisoners and the profound effects incarceration has on these “unintended”, “forgotten”, and “secondary” victims. With the increase in the incarceration rates in Jammu & Kashmir, there is a dire need to pay attention to the broader social implications of putting a family member in prison, particularly the impact it has on the older mother in the family where the only caregiver or breadwinner is put behind bars. Based on twenty one interviews conducted with the mothers of incarcerated individuals, the researchers documented their understanding of incarceration and the overall experience of having a child behind bars. The study employs a qualitative methodology to understand the experiences of mothers, the ways in which their lives change, and the resilience and coping strategies employed. Future research is needed on the health issues of these women, support sources available, visitation issues, identify prevailing setbacks as well as the health and social service needs of these older women.

Politika strogog kažnjavanja - izazovi krivičnog prava u prevenciji kriminala

At the end of the 1980s, it was realized that the policy of punishment and institutions such as prisons were in a serious crisis, and that punishment did not achieve the proclaimed goals. The repressive concept of punishment has traditionally been resorted to, and it is still present in practice in most developed countries in the world. The application of a stricter concept of crime response did not significantly change the growth trend of crime; on the contrary, such an approach increased the number of prisoners to unsustainable limits for prison institutions. Starting from the effects of imprisonment, in particular long prison sentences and life sentences and the consequences of imprisonment, there are growing calls to limit or altogether avoid imprisonment, as its shortcomings are very serious and affect both the prisoner's personality and the society. As a result of more severe punishment, there was an increase in the imposition of life imprisonment. According to available data, about half a million people in the world are serving life sentences. Life imprisonment is imposed in 183 out of 216 countries and territories, and between 2004 and 2015 there was an increase in the imposition of this sentence by about 84%. It is certainly necessary, in the coming period, to find a balanced penal policy and, wherever possible, to impose alternative sanctions because of the negative impact and very visible negative consequences that imprisonment leaves.

The impact of incarceration on coparenting: A review of the literature

ABSTRACT Incarceration effects various facets of family structure and the system as a whole. Relationships may suffer immensely due to the consequences of incarceration, particularly the coparenting relationship. The purpose of this literature review is to compile and analyze scholarly works in order to examine incarceration and its multiple layers that contribute to parenting, coparenting, and the impact of this relationship on the overarching family system. The focus is to synthesize literature regarding incarceration, incarcerated parenting, coparenting, and incarcerated coparenting. Additionally, this review discusses the complex issues surrounding incarceration and its impact on the coparenting relationship. Clinical implications are provided to ensure best treatment practices and to advocate for marriage and family therapists to be employed in correctional settings.

The Consequences Are Black and White: Race and Poor Health Following Incarceration

Incarceration is a health damaging experience that disproportionately impacts Black Americans. Although existing research has explored broader racial disparities in the health consequences of imprisonment, little research has examined within-individual changes in health declines following incarceration. Accordingly, in this study, we examine whether the negative health effects of incarceration are more pronounced for Black versus White individuals. Data from Waves I through IV of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health) and hierarchical generalized linear models (HGLM) are used to estimate within-person changes to self-rated health following first incarceration ( N = 23,627 person-waves) for non-Hispanic Black and non-Hispanic White individuals. Findings indicate that Black respondents reported within-person health declines that were more substantial than those of Whites after first incarceration. Additional analyses revealed that these race differences were more pronounced among Black males. Taken together, this study adds to the literature highlighting the racialized and negative health impacts of incarceration. Efforts to reduce imprisonment and increase access to quality health care in Black communities are needed.

What's After Good?: The Burden of Post-Incarceration Life

In the current era of mass incarceration, an increasing number of people face the challenge of transitioning from prison to society. Researchers of post-incarceration life have produced a detailed account of the collateral consequences of incarceration, noting the numerous barriers people must overcome as they try to return to society. In this paper, we show how stigma continues to be a structuring force in the lives of the formerly incarcerated. We develop the concept of the burden of post-incarceration life, meaning the structural constraints formerly incarcerated people face and the constant work they undertake to demonstrate and attempt to receive recognition for their rehabilitation. We argue that this burden is a critical though understudied aspect of life after prison. To develop this argument, we draw upon ethnographic and qualitative interview data from two distinct research projects with formerly incarcerated men and women in Chicago and highlight three interrelated themes that emerged from our data: judgment, exploitation, and competing demands. By centering burden in our analysis, we conclude that a focus on overcoming barriers may obfuscate the ongoing challenges formerly incarcerated people face.

Unlock imagined: arts in criminal justice

Starting with a personal perspective this piece outlines the place and role of the arts in the criminal justice system in the UK. It paints an optimistic picture, though an unsettling one, because the imagination and reflexiveness of the arts reveals a great deal about the causes of crime and the consequences of incarceration. It raises questions about the transforming impact of the arts: how the benefits could, and should, be optimised and why evaluations of arts interventions are consistent in identifying the need for a non-coercive, more socially focused, paradigm for rehabilitation. It concludes that the deeper the arts are embedded in the criminal justice system the greater the benefits will be, that a more interdisciplinary approach would support better theoretical understanding, and that increased capacity to deliver arts in the criminal justice system is needed to offer more people a creative pathway out of crime.

Gender and incarceration as coercive mobility: a theoretical model of effects on women’s forms of capital and informal social control

ABSTRACT Previous work has theorized that the removal of residents due to incarceration, known as coercive mobility, contributes to disruptions in neighboring relationships and therefore, impedes the community’s ability to engage in informal social control and prevent crime. However, research to date has yet to examine how women residents, who largely make up the population of residents who ‘remain behind,’ are affected by the incarceration of concentrated segments of male residents, who make up the majority of the prison population. Synthesizing prior research on coercive mobility, social capital, and the collateral consequences of incarceration, the present theoretical contribution incorporates effects to women’s forms of capital, including women’s social (i.e., resources inherent in neighboring relationships), physical (e.g., income), and human capital (e.g., education), as a mechanism to explain how concentrated incarceration contributes to deleterious consequences to informal social control. The author recommends that scholars examine the potentially gendered consequences of incarceration in future research.

Representing Children of Prisoners in the Public Domain: Comparing Children’s Views and Policy Documents

ABSTRACTAustralian adult prisoner numbers continue to rise to what have been described as unprecedented and unsustainable levels. Research highlights that there are wide-ranging consequences of incarceration for families, and particularly for children. Despite the available research describing the negative impact of parental incarceration on children, it has been argued that these children remain virtually invisible to policy makers and social programs. Using a combination of policy analyses and findings from a research project undertaken in the Australian Capital Territory aimed at identifying the needs of children who have a parent in prison, we examine how this group of children is constructed and responded to by the systems that surround the children. It is argued that it is only when children are seen in a more holistic way that systems can respond more collaboratively to effectively support children.IMPLICATIONSChildren of prisoners have needed to rely on adults to recognise the problem of parental incarceration and petition for them.It is time for those who inform and develop social policy to consider the impact of current policies on children.It is only when children are seen in a more holistic way that systems can respond more collaboratively to effectively support them.

Consequences of Imprisonment and Possibilities of Infl uence on Perpetrator in the Conditions of Penitentiary Isolation

Imprisonment which is implemented in the present form in European countries has reached its capabilities in terms of re-socialisation, if any function apart from isolating might have been achieved. This has happened because the specificity of penitentiary isolation results in individuals being unable to acquire real-skills to live in the society in accordance with its rules. The paradox of this penalty is that its conditioning favours the destruction of a human, the loss of their ability to function in society rather than their re-socialisation and building the appropriate social attitudes. Prisonisation which affects each prisoner to varying degrees is mostly to blame, but also other elements inseparably connected with penitentiary isolation. In order to mitigate the influence of negative factors it is necessary to implement the appropriate mechanisms, which, however, are not able to eliminate negative effects of imprisonment, but they are able to mitigate them, as already indicated. The aim of the following publication is an attempt to find a solution, identify which factors negatively influence re-socialisation of prisoners in penitentiary isolation and if there are still any possibilities to improve the system of execution of imprisonment sentence before the penalty in its present form disappears from legal systems. The authors also ask a question: Can a man be taught to live in society in accordance with the rules accepted by it, in spite of the sometimes long-term isolation of this man from the society?

Freshwater turtle hatchlings that stay in the nest: strategists or prisoners?

Hatchlings of several species of freshwater turtles have been reported to remain in subterranean nests for extended periods following hatching from the egg. It has been suggested that this delayed emergence, including overwintering in the nest in populations at temperate latitudes, is an evolved adaptation that enables hatchlings to enter the aquatic environment at the most propitious time for survival and growth. I monitored nests of a temperate-zone population of the freshwater Australian eastern long-necked turtle (Chelodina longicollis) for up to a year after nest construction in fine-grained soils adjacent to oxbow lakes and farm ponds. An estimated 84% of nests were preyed on, probably mainly by non-native red foxes (Vulpes vulpes), whereas hatchlings emerged from autumn to spring from an estimated 5% of nests. The remaining 11% of nests were neither preyed on nor had emergence by a year after nest construction. Live hatchlings were present in some nests with no emergence up to 10 months after nest construction, but substantial numbers of dead hatchlings were present beyond nine months. It therefore seems unlikely that emergence occurs more than a year after nest construction. Delayed emergence of this species in this environment appears less likely to be an adaptive strategy than to be a consequence of imprisonment in the nest by hard soil that is difficult for hatchlings to excavate.

PSYCHOPATHOLOGY IN JUVENILE JUSTICE YOUTHS: DEMOGRAPHIC, PSYCHOLOGICAL, AND CONTEXTUAL ELEMENTS THAT ARE RELATED TO VIOLENT OFFENDING AND NONVIOLENT DELINQUENCY AMONG ADOLESCENTS

1. IntroductionThis research is substantiated in the significant body of scholarship examining the extremely uneven pervasiveness of mental disorders among justiceinvolved youth, features related to risk for aggressive, nonaggressive, and general reoffending among young delinquents, and the possibility of harmful and violent conduct in juveniles. Applying novel conceptual and methodological approaches, this paper advances to the next level research on the relevance of advancing mental health services for young delinquents, the link between youthful trauma and mental health issues in justice-involved youth, and the connection between particular child abuse, oppression, and reoffending in young delinquents.2. The Link between Childhood Physical Maltreatment and Ensuing Violent and Criminal Conduct in JuvenilityThe significant degree of disorders in juvenile justice youths may have effects not only for clinical management, because mental health disorders are associated with recidivism (mental health issues are rampant and raise the possibility of reoffending). Mental health issues are more widespread in justice-involved youths than in community ones due to vulnerableness to traumatic episodes, e.g. childhood abuse, carelessness, or witnessing aggression. Vulnerableness to maltreatment and carelessness (Parkinson, 2016) may clarify the significant pervasiveness of psychiatric disorder in justice-involved youth. Adolescent-onset delinquents display offending behavior throughout juvenility and are less expected to have important individual issues or precarious family backgrounds. Deficiency in neurodevelopmental mechanisms and unsatisfactory family performance (Popescu Ljungholm, 2015; 2016) is more expected in the childhood-onset offenders. The latter may have undergone more traumatic episodes in early years than adolescent-onset ones, which is instrumental in their possibility of advancing mental health issues. (Hoeve et al., 2015)Merely acquainting with the juvenile justice system is a robust sign of seemingly externalizing issues (e.g., hyperactivity, impulsivity, hostility), triggering psychosocial aspects, and unsatisfactory coping skills. Delinquency among youths is externalizing conduct associated with intrinsic inconsistencies (Robinson, 2015) within insufficiently advanced psychic arrangements and unsatisfied psychological demands (Henderson, 2016), in addition restricted by age and inexperience. Providing mental health services to young offenders presumably alleviates the risk for reoffending by remedying critical mental health issues, assisting the justice system in identifying and attending intrinsic psychopathology, enhancing coping skills (Pera, 2015), diminishing the adverse consequences of incarceration, and cutting down subsequent expenses to society (Nica et al., 2016) by decreasing reoffending. Mental healthcare doubtlessly diminishes reoffending by remedying intrinsic psychopathology (Janzen, 2016) and focusing on unsatisfied psychological demands; decreasing the youth's anxiety, embarrassment and annoyance from legal participation; and alleviating the consequences of the latter, e.g. discontinued school attendance, association with wrongdoing, and possible vulnerability to other threatening youths or adverse conducts. (Zeola et al., 2017)Grave behavior issues comprising violent and harmful conducts that infringe the rights of other individuals or chief societal norms constitute a severe mental health and public policy interest. Only a subgroup of people who display prolonged disruptive and illegal conduct (Hodgson, 2015) exhibit raised degrees of psychopathic traits. Juveniles with behavior issues and nonnormative degrees of callous and unemotional (CU) traits are dissimilar from other youths with behavior issues (Nica, 2016a, b) by exhibiting flaws in the processing of abuse cues, by supporting more deviant social objectives (Peters, 2015a, b), and by displaying shortfalls in affective empathy. …

Análisis de las personas mayores privadas de libertad en España: el caso del Centro Penintenciario de Madrid VI

El artículo presenta los principales resultados de una investigación que analiza la situación en la que se encuentran las personas mayores de 60 años internas en prisión en España. La investigación se realiza a partir de un análisis cuantitativo que se complementa con el cualitativo, lo que ha permitido conocer las percepciones y dificultades, y captar las valoraciones de las personas sujetos de investigación. Para su realización se ha revisado el material bibliográfico y estadístico de la población reclusa de más de 60 años en España. Posteriormente, se ha procedido al estudio de la población diana mediante la recogida de datos de los expedientes, y la realización de entrevistas en profundidad a las personas mayores internas en un centro penitenciario – Madrid VI - . Los datos obtenidos ponen de manifiesto que se trata de un colectivo con una doble desventaja social, por motivo de su edad y de la situación de internamiento en prisión. Muestran las múltiples consecuencias negativas que la estancia en prisión les produce y las deficiencias del sistema penitenciario español para hacerles frente.

A Day in the Life: The Long-Term Effects and Psychological Aftermath of Wrongful Conviction

Exonerees often return to their communities only to be shunned and stigmatized, sacrifice their assets in order to fund legal battles, endure structural difficulties getting a job, and face other challenges that accompany their new position in society. This report will highlight the impact of a wrongful conviction on individuals’ lives, relationships, and sense of self. Particular attention will be paid to the impact of the social stigma on the individual’s efforts to reintegrate into a changed society, of the psychological consequences of imprisonment, and of the importance of support resources to mitigate some of the issues faced upon release. While an examination of life after release relies most heavily on first-hand accounts, a comprehensive understanding requires that the outsider to draw from various areas of research and inquiry: the reality of trauma and recovery management, the impact of long-term incarceration on innocent prisoners, and the process of parolee reentry.

INCARCERATION AND POPULATION HEALTH IN WEALTHY DEMOCRACIES*

Everywhere you look, incarceration seems to be doing harm. Research has implicated incarceration not only in worse outcomes for individuals, their families, and their communities but also in growing inequality. Yet incarceration may not always harm society—even if it does harm those who experience it. To consider this possibility, I build an argument demonstrating how the macro‐level consequences of incarceration may be distinctively harmful in the United States, focusing on the incarceration–health relationship as one indicator of a broader phenomenon. I then test my hypothesis by using an unbalanced panel data set including 21 developed democracies (N = 414) and a series of ordinary least‐squares models predicting three measures of population health as a function of incarceration. Models including only a main effect of incarceration demonstrate an inverse association between changes in incarceration and changes in population health. Models including an incarceration by U.S. interaction, however, indicate that the population health consequences of changes in incarceration are far worse in the United States than elsewhere. Taken together, the results indicate that the United States is exceptional for both its rate of incarceration and its effects of incarceration, although it is unclear what drives this exceptionalism in effects.

Impact of incarceration in Nazi concentration camps on multimorbidity of former prisoners.

ObjectiveTo show the extent to which the health of former prisoners was affected by incarceration in extermination camps after 5 and 30 years of leaving the camp, and to determine the etiological factors underlying particular dysfunctions.MethodsMedical records of former prisoners developed in 1950 (n=250) and 1975 (n=120) were then, after several decades, retrospectively analyzed and compared with the control group, randomized and matched according to age, sex, occupation, and environment. None of the subjects in the control group was a prisoner either at a concentration camp or at any other prison or detention facility.ResultsMultimorbidity affected mainly the central nervous system (CNS). Five years after leaving a camp, CNS dysfunctions were observed in 66% of former prisoners. Skeletal (42.4%) and cardiovascular system (34.4%) dysfunctions were the second and third most frequent dysfunctions. Thirty years after leaving a camp, the most prevalent coexisting conditions were also found within the CNS (80%), cardiovascular system (58.33%), and skeletal system (55%). Five and 30 years after leaving a camp, multiorgan lesions were found in 21.6% and 60% of survivors, respectively. Multimorbidity was more frequent in a group of prisoners who underwent the state of apathy and depression or who had been incarcerated longer than 24 months. The rate of CNS diseases was four times higher, and the rate of cardiovascular diseases or skeletal system dysfunctions was two times higher, in the study group after 30 years of leaving a camp compared with the control group.ConclusionThe consequences of incarceration in concentration camps manifesting as multimorbidity, premature aging, and dramatic increase in mortality rate are observed in the majority of former prisoners. The multimorbidity mostly affected older prisoners who stayed at a camp for a longer time period.

»Was kommt vor der Versöhnung?«

Abstract Despite considerable efforts and legal regulations after the end of the SED dictatorship to cope with its systemic injustice, many of the political victims suffer still today from long-term consequences of imprisonment, repression, truncated biographies and destroyed liveabilities. Often these forms of suffering cannot be addressed or cured by means of legal categories. Rather a sensitive treatment of these victims and their relatives as well as public perception and respect are necessary. This task remains yet unfinished in the process of dealing with the SED dictatorship.