Isolation Type and Post-Release Mortality Risk Among Formerly Incarcerated Individuals: A Population-Based Study

• In Event: Unpacking Solitary Confinement: Isolation Types, Institutional Sorting, and Reform

Abstract

The article assesses the association between isolation type (disciplinary, preventive, observation, and voluntary) and post-release mortality among formerly incarcerated individuals. It links administrative data on everyone incarcerated for the first time for 7+ days between 2010 and 2018 in Denmark (n = 21,806) to national mortality records through 2023, and then estimates Cox proportional hazards models on the associations between isolation type during incarceration and 5-year post-release mortality, overall and by cause of death. Nearly one-quarter (23.71%) of individuals experienced isolation. Any isolation was associated with higher post-release mortality compared with no isolation. In adjusted models, disciplinary, observation, and voluntary isolation were associated with higher all-cause and non-natural mortality, whereas preventive isolation showed no clear association. Isolation, in particular observation cell placement and voluntary isolation, is strongly associated with elevated post-release mortality, especially from non-natural causes of death. Results highlight the need to identify mechanisms linking isolation (by type) to mortality (by cause) and to develop interventions to reduce this public health burden.

Authors

• Frederik Rom Taxhjelm, University of Copenhagen

• Stinne Skriver Jørgensen, The Danish Institute for Human Rights

• Lars Højsgaard Andersen, ROCKWOOL Foundation

• Christopher Wildeman, Duke University