Examining the Effects of Confinement on Physical Illness Among Juveniles

• In Event: Trauma and Victimization of Justice-Involved Youth

Abstract

To date, extensive literature has been collected highlighting the racial disparities across both the criminal justice system and the continuum of medical care in disease prevalence, prevention, management, and outcomes. Comparatively, little attention has been directed at understanding how these population health disparities relate to the criminal justice system, specifically corrections (Binswanger et al., 2011; Adler & Newman, 2002; Binswanger, Kruger, & Steiner, 2009). Though the prevalence of disease is seen across all racial and ethnic groups, in general minority males prove to receive poorer care when compared to their white counterpart (Wilper et al., 2009; Binswanger et al., 2011). Despite the known prevalence of poor health outcomes among both minority and male inmates, the involvement of the criminal justice system on population health disparities as it relates to juveniles has been largely overlooked in correctional health research (Binswanger et al., 2011; Adler & Newman, 2002; London & Myers, 2006). This study represents an attempt at bridging the gap between preventative health care and criminal justice efforts within the literature in its examination of the age onset of disease, prison confinement, adequate health care services, and demographics among male juveniles within the United States.

Authors

• Mary Hannah Hughes, University of Arkansas at Little Rock

• Nicole Prior, East Tennessee State University

• Alison Bogar, Lincoln Memorial University