The Health Consequences of Housing Instability After Criminal Legal System Contact

• In Event: Housing and Collateral Consequences

Abstract

In the age of mass incarceration, carceral contact is a defining determinant of health. Incarceration affects health via multiple and overlapping mechanisms: increasing exposure to infectious diseases, elevating stress, and reducing social support and integration. Yet, few studies examine how carceral contact interacts with other social determinants and fundamental causes of health, namely housing access. Drawing on these theoretical frameworks, we contend that residential mobility may shape associations between incarceration and poor health during reentry. Having a stable place to live may reduce some stress and problems with social integration after release, but housing stability is increasingly challenging for formerly incarcerated people to attain due to stigmatization, discrimination, and fractured family bonds. We use data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, 1997 cohort to investigate whether residential mobility moderates the relationship between criminal legal system contact and self-rated overall health and depressive symptoms during early adulthood. Using ordinal mixed effects regression models, we analyze and describe the health patterns of young adults by incarceration and mobility histories. Our study has implications for public health and criminal legal system policies, indicating the need to prioritize housing during reentry, as residential stability can potentially mitigate the adverse health effects of incarceration.

Authors

• Laura DeMarco, North Carolina State University

• Amy L. Allen, North Carolina State University

• Sadé L. Lindsay, Cornell University