Beyond the dichotomy: Incarceration dosage and mental health*

Abstract

The findings from a growing body of research reveal that incarceration is detrimental for both physical and mental health. Incarceration, however, is typically conceptualized and operationalized as a dichotomy; individuals either have, or have not, been incarcerated. Considering that incarceration can range from one day to several years, a dichotomous measure may be overlooking important variations across lengths of exposure. In addition, most inmates are incarcerated more than once. In this study, we help to fill this gap by examining the relationship between incarceration dosage, measured as time served and number of spells, and mental health among a sample of young adults from the National Longitudinal Study of Youth 1997. By using fixed‐effects modeling, we find that the number of spells and the months incarcerated are positively related to mental health symptoms and the likelihood of depression. The association, however, is contingent on whether a respondent is currently or formerly incarcerated. Among current inmates, more time served is expected to improve mental health and the number of spells is unrelated to either outcome.

Criminal Justice Contacts and Psychophysiological Functioning in Early Adulthood: Health Inequality in the Carceral State

“…Because Add Health does not differentiate jail from prison stays or provide detailed incarceration histories, a more nuanced understanding of how incarceration spells shape health is not possible, although this is an important area for future research inquiry. Taken together, the results presented here are consistent with the notion that incarceration history is not a "dichotomous" experience (Porter and DeMarco 2019), with individuals having varying durations and dosages of incarceration in ways that matter for health and warrant consideration.…”

“…It is possible that the first incarceration is a particularly salient stressor in the lives of individuals with especially grave consequences for health. After multiple incarcerations, individuals may "adapt" and be better equipped to handle the stress associated with incarceration (Porter and DeMarco 2019). It is also possible that those reporting higher incarceration dosage have experienced several jail-rather than prison-stays, which may relate to health in different ways.…”

Consequences of mental and physical health for reentry and recidivism: Toward a health‐based model of desistance*

“…Although there is wide applicability of a health‐based model of desistance, we zero in on a population reentering society in which the impact of health on adult roles and recidivism comes into sharp focus. Indeed, individuals who have experienced incarceration are likely to suffer from poor health (Dumont, Brockmann, Dickman, Alexander, & Rich, ; Massoglia & Pridemore, ; Porter & DeMarco, ; Turney, Wildeman, & Schnittker, ; Wakefield & Uggen, ; Wildeman, ). Several study findings have demonstrated the deleterious impact of incarceration on morbidities related to infectious diseases and stress (Massoglia, ; Massoglia & Pridemore, ; Schnittker & John, ).…”

Health and criminal justice system involvement among African American siblings

“…Offenders may also have been less likely to appear in voter registration records and telephone directories, both of which were used to find respondents. The small number of convicted offenders precluded an analysis of the effect the number of convictions or incarceration; both factors may play a role in health outcomes among offenders and population-wide health disparities (Lee et al, 2014, Massoglia, 2008, Porter and DeMarco, 2018, Rosen et al, 2008, Schnittker et al, 2011, Wang et al, 2009, Wildeman, 2016, Wildeman and Wang, 2017). The small sample size also prevented further reliable exploration of genetic and environmental influence (Verhulst, 2017).…”