Date of Completion

2021

Document Type

Honors College Thesis

Department

Global Studies

Thesis Type

Honors College, College of Arts and Science Honors

First Advisor

Pablo S. Bose

Second Advisor

Alice Fothergill

Third Advisor

Dale Jaffe

Keywords

Prison, Punishment, Death, COVID-19, Coronavirus, Incarceration

Abstract

This project explores concepts surrounding prison, punishment, vulnerability to premature death and morbidities, and the power to influence vulnerability to premature death. During the COVID-19 pandemic, correctional and detention facilities were particularly vulnerable to the spread of the coronavirus, and between staff members and those incarcerated within these facilities, incarcerated people were the most vulnerable to COVID-19. This project explores the following questions: What are the collateral health consequences of carceral punishment and how does COVID-19 illuminate those consequences? What was the impact of COVID-19 on incarcerated individuals and what does that mean in relation to disproportionate health effects within correctional facilities? How does the carceral system create, reify, intensify and reflect health inequities in broader society? With a quantitative analysis including the of case fatality rates and potential years of life lost along with a case study of Vermont prisons during the COVID-19 pandemic, this project uses a mixed-methods approach, including a series of in-depth interviews with Vermont prison staff, to explore the collateral health consequences of carceral punishment.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.

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