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The Distribution of Carceral Harm: County-Level Jail Incarceration and Mortality by Race, Sex, and Age.
- Source :
- Demography (Duke University Press); Oct2024, Vol. 61 Issue 5, p1455-1482, 28p
- Publication Year :
- 2024
-
Abstract
- Jail incarceration remains an overlooked yet crucial component of the U.S. carceral system. Although a growing literature has examined the mortality costs associated with residing in areas with high levels of incarceration, far less is known about how local jails shape this burden at the intersection of race, sex, and age. In this study, I examine the relationship between county-level jail incarceration and age-specific mortality for non-Hispanic Black and White men and women, uniquely leveraging race-specific jail rates to account for the unequal racial distribution of jail exposures. This study finds evidence of positive associations between mortality and jail incarceration: this association peaks in late adulthood (ages 50–64), when increases in jail rates are associated with roughly 3% increases in mortality across all race–sex groups. However, patterns vary at the intersection of race, sex, and age. In particular, I find more marked and consistent penalties among women than among men. Additionally, a distinctly divergent age pattern emerges among Black men, who face insignificant but negative associations at younger ages but steep penalties at older ages—significantly larger among those aged 65 or older relative to their White male and Black female counterparts. Evidence further suggests that the use of race-neutral incarceration measures in prior work may mask the degree of harm associated with carceral contexts, because the jail rate for the total population underestimates the association between jail rates and mortality across nearly all race–age–sex combinations. These findings highlight the need for future ecological research to differentiate between jail and prison incarceration, consider the demographic distribution of incarceration's harms, and incorporate racialized measures of exposure so that we may better capture the magnitude of harm associated with America's carceral state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Subjects :
- FAMILIES & psychology
STATISTICS on African Americans
MORTALITY
CORRECTIONAL institutions
IMPRISONMENT
HEALTH status indicators
RESEARCH funding
SEX distribution
SOCIOECONOMIC factors
SPOUSES
LIFE expectancy
AGE distribution
PRISONERS
DESCRIPTIVE statistics
RACE
RACISM
INTERSECTIONALITY
CONCEPTUAL structures
PSYCHOLOGICAL stress
LIFE course approach
HEALTH equity
CRIMINAL justice system
ADVERSE health care events
COMPARATIVE studies
WELL-being
SOCIAL stigma
PHYSICAL mobility
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 00703370
- Volume :
- 61
- Issue :
- 5
- Database :
- Complementary Index
- Journal :
- Demography (Duke University Press)
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 180294695
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1215/00703370-11555025