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 ACTION
Because 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.

1
Find existing decarceration campaigns or groups in your area, region, or state like #FreeThemAllForPublicHealth.
2
Sign up for their next call, action, event and learn more about how you can support their work.
3
For people in governmental public health institutions, in what ways can you use your authority to push for decarceration as a public health strategy?

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.

Selected Resources

Discussion Questions

Who To Follow

For Further Learning

TAKE ACTION

Because 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?