ass incarceration in the United States is unique both historically and internationally. In the past thirty-five years, the incarceration rate has increased fivefold. 1 While the U.S. has 5% of the world's population, it has 25% of its prisoners. 2 Significant racial disparities exist in the incarceration rate: Black and Hispanic men are incarcerated at 6.6 and 2.5 times the rate of White men, respectively. 3 For those who are or have been incarcerated, the social, economic and health implications are enormous. As Schnittker and Massoglia point out, current and former prisoners constitute a status group, meaning that they "share a negative credential that affects their life chances irrespective of their social origins." 4 Health risks of incarceration are "'fundamental' in the sense that they may be linked to health through a variety of different mechanisms, not unlike socioeconomic status itself." 5 The role of stigma in the life chances and health outcomes for current and former prisoners is a new area of research. Stigma has been defined as a process in which the "elements of labeling, stereotyping, separation, status loss, and discrimination co-occur together in a power situation that allows the components of stigma to unfold." 6 Researchers are exploring the pathways between social stigma and poor health and some argue that it is an important driver of mortality and morbidity as well as a key social determinant of health. 7 This article describes the multiple syncretic links between and among incarceration, poor health, race, and stigma. We begin by describing the overlapping and mutually enforcing stigmatizing conditions associated with incarceration: lower socioeconomic status and the burden of increased prevalence of mental health problems, substance use and infectious disease. Next, we turn to the important intersections among race, incarceration and health disparities and the role that law and public policy have played in shaping these disparities. Then we explore post-incarceration reentry, highlighting the growth of legally sanctioned post-incarceration collateral consequences, their role in stigma and their impact on the health of the formerly incarcerated, their families and their communities. Finally, we offer policy recommendations to reduce the impact of incarceration and stigma on the health of individuals, families, and communities.
