THE PRISON INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX: ADVERSE IMPLICATIONS FOR PUBLIC HEALTH

THE PRISON INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX

ADVERSE IMPLICATIONS FOR PUBLIC HEALTH

Policing, prisons, prison-like institutions, and the whole prison industrial complex are bad for public health — for the health of communities who experience constant, racialized, police surveillance and the 7 million people under correctional control in the United States and their families.
 

Many public health practitioners recognize that the US criminal legal system is not an institution engaged in primary prevention of public health problems or addressing root causes, and it is imperative to further contextualize this system as one that is, itself, a root cause of public health problems. Selected resources in this section demonstrate the negative health impact of the prison industrial complex, and how it interferes with public health. Updated 2.23.22.

Selected Resources

The Predatory Dimensions of  Criminal Justice, Science
Policing is a Threat to Public Health and Human Rights, BMJ Global Health
Incarceration is a Public Health Crisis, During COVID-19 and Beyond, Harvard Medical School Primary Care Review
Mass Incarceration Threatens Health Equity in America, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
Documenting and Addressing the Health Impacts of Carceral Systems, American Journal of Public Health
American Public Health Association Statements on Policing and Addressing Harms of Carceral Systems 
Health Grievances from Imprisoned People at Santa Rita Jail, Santa Rita Jail Inmates
“If U Only Knew How They Were Really Doing Us”: Inside/Outside Communication During A Pandemic, Tits and Sass
Policing is a Public Health Issue: Diving Deeper into Police Abolition Webinar, Human Impact Partners
Hotbed of Infection: How ICE Detention Contributed to the Spread of COVID-19 in the United States, 
Detention Watch Network
Policing as a Public Health Issue, Region V Public Health Training Center

Discussion Questions

What are three ways that prisons, policing, immigrant detention, and coercive detention in psychiatric institutions interfere with specific public health and health equity efforts in your community? 
The AJPH issue demonstrates the many ways repeated trauma and stress caused by policing and incarceration leads to adverse immunological responses and chronic inflammation, particularly for communities of color, which can be passed on intergenerationally at the epigenetic level. What insight does this offer about abolition as a public health intervention? 
Public health professionals have used the APHA statements on police violence and incarceration to advocate for change in their communities. How might you and your colleagues use these statements within your public health institution?

Who To Follow

APHA End Police Violence Collective @endpoliceviolence 
Dr. Josiah Rich
Race & Health @raceandhealth 
Dr. Rhea Boyd @RheaBoydMD 
Drug Policy Alliance Department of Research @DrugPolicyNerds 
Prison Health @Prison_Health
Doctors for Defunding Police @DrsDefundPolice 
Abi Deivanayagam @AbiDeivo 
Dr. Oni Blackstock @oni_blackstock

For Further Learning

Liberating Our Health: Ending the Harms of Pretrial Incarceration and Money Bail 
Mass Incarceration, COVID-19, and Community Spread and other resources from the Prison Policy Institute 
Understanding US Immigration Detention: Reaffirming Rights and Addressing Social-Structural Determinants of Health 
Amid COVID, People Involuntarily Confined in Psych Hospitals Must Be Released
Johns Hopkins School of Public Health Department of Epidemiology: Resources for Understanding the Health Impacts of Policing in the United States

TAKE ACTIONBecause of the significant public health implications of incarceration, there are many efforts across the country to decarcerate jails and prisons as a public health intervention — especially during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Find existing decarceration campaigns or groups in your area, region, or state like #FreeThemAllForPublicHealth.

Sign up for their next call, action, event and learn more about how you can support their work.

For people in governmental public health institutions, in what ways can you use your authority to push for decarceration as a public health strategy?