Prison, Punishment, and Premature Death: Group-differentiated Health Impacts of Incarceration during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Presenter's Name(s)

Valentina M. CzochanskiFollow

Conference Year

January 2021

Abstract

During the COVID-19 pandemic, U.S. correctional and detention facilities were vulnerable to the spread of disease, leaving people incarcerated within these facilities particularly vulnerable to COVID-19. This project explores how the U.S. carceral system creates, reifies, intensifies and reflects health inequities in broader society by asking: How does COVID-19 illuminate the collateral health consequences of carceral punishment? What was the impact of COVID-19 on incarcerated individuals? and What does that mean in relation to disproportionate health effects within correctional facilities? With a case study of Vermont correctional facilities 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.

Primary Faculty Mentor Name

Professor Pablo Bose

Status

Undergraduate

Student College

College of Arts and Sciences

Second Student College

Patrick Leahy Honors College

Program/Major

Global Studies

Second Program/Major

Sociology

Primary Research Category

Arts & Humanities

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Prison, Punishment, and Premature Death: Group-differentiated Health Impacts of Incarceration during the COVID-19 Pandemic

During the COVID-19 pandemic, U.S. correctional and detention facilities were vulnerable to the spread of disease, leaving people incarcerated within these facilities particularly vulnerable to COVID-19. This project explores how the U.S. carceral system creates, reifies, intensifies and reflects health inequities in broader society by asking: How does COVID-19 illuminate the collateral health consequences of carceral punishment? What was the impact of COVID-19 on incarcerated individuals? and What does that mean in relation to disproportionate health effects within correctional facilities? With a case study of Vermont correctional facilities 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.