Incarceration as Forced Migration: Effects on Selected Community Health Outcomes

• NCJ Number: 216726
• Journal: American Journal of Public Health Volume: 96 Issue: 10 Dated: October 2006 Pages: 1762-1765
• Author(s): James C. Thomas Ph.D.; Elizabeth Torrone MSPH
• Date Published: October 2006
• Length: 4 pages
• Grant Number(s): P3 AI50410; 74411-00 01
• Sponsoring Agency: National Ctr on Minority Health and Health Disparities; Open Society Foundation; University of North Carolina Ctr for AIDS Research
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: Free online PDF and HTML access to the American Journal of Public Health is provided by the publisher 24 months after individual issues are released.

Annotation

This study examined the effects of high incarceration rates on rates of sexually transmitted infections and teenage pregnancies in North Carolina from 1995 through 2002.

Abstract

Results from 100 counties in North Carolina indicated that the rates of sexually transmitted infections and teenage pregnancies were significantly related to incarceration rates. Controlling for the effects of age, race, and poverty, the findings revealed that as incarceration rates increased in these counties, so too did the rates of sexually transmitted infections and teenage pregnancies. The most extreme case occurred in 1996 when teenage pregnancies increased 71.61 per 100,000 population following the 1995 increase in the prison population rate from 223.31 to 468.58 per 10,000 population. The findings suggest that high incarceration rates can lead to community destabilization as well as negative public health outcomes. Data on entries, releases, and State prison populations for the period 1995 through 2002 were drawn from the North Carolina Department of Corrections. Data on county jail entries, releases, and populations for the period 1995 through 2000 were drawn from the North Carolina County Court System. The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services provided information on sexually transmitted infections for the period 1995 through 2002 while the North Carolina Office of Vital Statistics provided data on teenage pregnancies for 1995 through 2001. Negative binomial regression models were used to examine whether increases in negative health outcomes were associated with increases in incarceration rates. Tables, references