TY - JOUR
T1 - Incarceration as a health determinant for sexual orientation and gender minority persons
AU - Baćak, Valerio
AU - Thurman, Kate
AU - Eyer, Katie
AU - Qureshi, Rubab
AU - Bird, Jason D.P.
AU - Rivera, Luis M.
AU - Kim, Suzanne A.
N1 - Funding Information: This writing of the essay was supported by the funds from the Rutgers University– Newark Initiative for Humanities, Arts, Social Sciences, and Business Research Teams Award and the Initiative for Multidisciplinary Research Teams Award. Publisher Copyright: © 2018 American Public Health Association Inc. All rights reserved.
PY - 2018/8
Y1 - 2018/8
N2 - Incarceration is considerably more prevalent among sexual and gender minority persons (SGM) than among the general population. Once behind bars, they are at the greatest risk for health-related harms. Although a growing number of studies have assessed health disparities produced by mass incarceration, scholars are yet to systematically assess the health consequences of incarceration on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. We invite public health scholars to study the effects of incarceration on health in the SGM population and provide a roadmap to aid these research efforts. First, we document the disproportionate presence of SGM persons in jails and prisons. Second, we note health-related risks that are the most salient for this population. Third, we recommend examining heterogeneity in the effects of incarceration by teasing out distinct risks for groups defined by sexual orientation, gender identity, and race/ethnicity. Fourth, we note methodological challenges with respect to measurement and assessing causality. Finally, we discuss the importance of health care access and quality and the need to study health during incarceration and afterward.
AB - Incarceration is considerably more prevalent among sexual and gender minority persons (SGM) than among the general population. Once behind bars, they are at the greatest risk for health-related harms. Although a growing number of studies have assessed health disparities produced by mass incarceration, scholars are yet to systematically assess the health consequences of incarceration on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. We invite public health scholars to study the effects of incarceration on health in the SGM population and provide a roadmap to aid these research efforts. First, we document the disproportionate presence of SGM persons in jails and prisons. Second, we note health-related risks that are the most salient for this population. Third, we recommend examining heterogeneity in the effects of incarceration by teasing out distinct risks for groups defined by sexual orientation, gender identity, and race/ethnicity. Fourth, we note methodological challenges with respect to measurement and assessing causality. Finally, we discuss the importance of health care access and quality and the need to study health during incarceration and afterward.
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U2 - 10.2105/AJPH.2018.304500
DO - 10.2105/AJPH.2018.304500
M3 - Article
C2 - 29927654
SN - 0090-0036
VL - 108
SP - 994
EP - 999
JO - American journal of public health
JF - American journal of public health
IS - 8
ER -