1st Edition

Handbook on Contemporary Issues in Health, Crime, and Punishment

Edited By Nathan Link, Meghan Novisky, Chantal Fahmy Copyright 2025
    470 Pages 25 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    The Handbook on Contemporary Issues in Health and Punishment covers many topics on the numerous ways in which mental and physical health and criminal justice system contact influence one another and are intricately intertwined. These often mutually reinforcing dynamics affect a range of health and justice outcomes at individual, familial, group, community, and national levels. Contributions detail this topic from a wide range of disciplinary, theoretical, and international perspectives and rely on various analytical lenses, including quantitative, qualitative, policy-analytic, theoretical/conceptual, and lived experiences.

    The chapters summarize what is known in each topical area, but as important, they identify emerging theoretical, empirical, and policy directions. In this way, the book is grounded in the current knowledge about the specific topic, but also provides new, synthesizing material that reflects the knowledge of the leading minds in the field. Conceptually divided into eleven sections, a number of contributions describe the unique experiences of women, people of color, juveniles, older populations, immigrants, LGBTQ+ individuals, and other sub-populations (i.e., people convicted of drug or sex offenses). Where appropriate, the authors provide both big picture and pragmatic policy directions aimed at reducing system contact, health challenges, and inhumane practices.

    Given its breadth and depth, the Handbook will appeal broadly to academics, practitioners, policymakers, advocates, and students seeking to understand the many ways in which health and justice system dynamics overlap.

    INTRODUCTION

    The Intersection of Sentencing and Punishment Decisions and Experiences with Individual, Family, and Community Health

    Nathan W. Link, Meghan Novisky, Chantal Fahmy

    I. CONTEXTS AND ORGANIZING FRAMEWORKS

    1. Health Criminology: Addressing the Culture of Control

    Faye Taxman

    2. Healthcare Litigation in Corrections: Framing Rights and Pursuing Care

    Bryant J. Jackson-Green

    3. Health Equity and The Justice System: A Research Agenda

    Anthony Petrosino, Angelia Turner, Cosette Lias, Danielle Munguia, and Pamela MacDougall

    4. Political And Social Determinants of Punishment and Health in Pretrial Systems

    Cynthia Golembeski, Brianna Baker, Homer Venters, and Robert Fullilove

    5. Explaining and Reducing the Poor Physical Health of Individuals Who Engage in Criminal Behavior

    Guy C. M. Skinner and David Farrington

    6. An Environmental Justice Perspective for Exploring Health in Carceral Spaces

    Elisa L. Toman, Averi R. Fegadel, and Rachel E. Severson

    II. THE STATE OF HEALTHCARE AMONG INCARCERATED PEOPLE

    7. Chronic Punishment: An Overview of Health and Access to Healthcare for People in State Prisons

    Leah Wang and Emily Widra

    8. Mixed Reviews: Perceptions of Prison Health Care Delivery in Western Canadian Prisons

    William J. Schultz

    9. Public Accessibility of Healthcare Information in PrisonA Review of U.S. State Department of Corrections Websites

    Jennifer Tostlebe and Selena Munoz-Jones

    III. PRISON CONDITIONS, EXPERIENCES, AND CULTURE

    10. A Protective or Risk Factor: How “The Code” in Prison is Associated With Health and Well-Being Outcomes

    Meghan M. Mitchell and Rosemary Ricciardelli

    11. Mass Incarceration and the Climate Crisis: Past Research and Future Implications of Intersecting Hazards and their Impacts on Health

    Kristen N Cowan, Jennifer Lao, Katherine LeMasters, and Lauren Brinkley-Rubinstein

    12. Addressing the Traumatic Experiences of Men in Solitary Confinement: Exploring the Use of Emotional Learning to Break the Cycle of Violence

    Ann Marie Rocheleau

    13. Mental Health Treatment Resentment & Contagious Dehumanization: The Unintended Consequences of Reforming Solitary Confinement for Individuals with Severe Mental Health Disorders

    Shannon Magnuson, Angela Hattery, and Emma Porter

    14. Hunger, Health, and Harm: Perceptions of Prison Food, Medical Care, and Well-Being

    Bryce Kushmerick-McCune, Sydney Ingel, Caitlin Bauer, and Danielle Rudes

    15. It’s All in Your Head: Unpacking What’s Known About Head Injuries in Correctional Settings

    Chelsey Narvey, Kristina Block, Wanda Leal, and Beatriz Amalfi Wronski

    IV. INTERSECTIONS BETWEEN INFECTIOUS DISEASES AND INCARCERATION

    16. Confinement in Pandemic Times: Two tales of prisons, epidemics and power from the Global South

    Angel Aedo, Catalina Droppelmann, Frédéric Le Marcis, and Daniela Montanari

    17. The COVID-19 Pandemic Harms of Imprisonment: An Analysis of Issues Raised by Imprisoned People in Canada

    Olivia Gemma, Kevin Walby, and Justin Piché

    18. Carceral Expansion at the Nexus of State Violence and Neoliberal Public Health

    Katherine Weatherford Darling, Sarah Walton, and Brian Pitman

    V. FAMILY, RELATIONSHIPS, AND HEALTH

    19. Dimensions of Health and Well-being Among Partners of Incarcerated Individuals

    Katherine A. Durante and Eman Tadros

    20. Policy Alternatives to Separating Women in Prison and their Infants

    Allison D. Crawford, Alexander Testa, Amanda Corbett, Rosemary Laine, Tara Hutson, Rebecca Shlafer

    21. The Incarceration of Pregnant Women in the United States: Understanding Pathways and Lived Experiences

    Dragana Derlic, Makiya Owens, Jessica Ogu, and Stuti S. Kokkalera

    VI. SALIENT HEALTH ISSUES AMONG VULNERABLE GROUPS

    22. Heterogeneity in the Mental Health Consequences of Incarceration across Race: Prior Research and New Directions

    Kathleen Powell and Robert Apel

    23. Muslim Mental Health in Prison: The Costs and Consequences of Inadequate Services

    Amin Asfari and James Gacek

    24. Incarceration and Food Insecurity: What We Know and Where Research Needs to Go

    Alexander Testa, Katherine Kelton, Jacqueline G. Lee, Hanah Chaudry, Dylan B. Jackson, and Daphne C. Hernandez

    25. Veterans Deflection: Not Waiting for Military Veterans to be Arrested or in Crisis Before We Act

    Lance Washington, Kreeti Singh, Katie Stewart, Kelly Firesheets, Jac Charlier, Andrea K. Finlay

    VII. JUVENILE HEALTH AND DEVELOPMENT

    26. Examining the Health of People Sentenced to Juvenile Life Without the Possibility of Parole: Setting a Research Agenda

    Dylan B. Jackson, Laura S. Abrams, J.Z. Bennett, Jeffrey T. Ward, Daphne M. Brydon, Leah Ouellet, and Rebecca Turner

    27. Harms and Hope: The Risks of Juvenile Justice System Involvement and the Promise of Developmental Assets for Youth of Color

    Chelsea McElwee, Tate LeBlanc, and Aerika B. Loyd

    28. "That Memory, I Cannot Erase": In the Crossfire of Living in a Mixed-Status Family and having Youth Carceral Involvement

    Ana Magaly Ojeda

    VIII. AGING BEHIND BARS

    29. Ending Life Peacefully and with Dignity: Examination of the U.S. Adult Resident’s Definitions of and Support for Compassionate Release

    Jane C. Daquin, Rebecca H. Konkel, and Susannah N. Tapp

    30. “Not-So-Golden Years: The Utility and Shortcomings of Assessing Aging Through Functionality Assessments in Correctional Settings”

    Chivon Fitch, Brandon C. Dulisse, and Raechel Meyerowich

    31. Life Satisfaction and Successful Aging: An Exploration of Well-being Among Recently Released Elders

    Angela S. Murolo

    IX. GENDER, SEXUALITY, AND HEALTH

    32. The Pains of Imprisonment, Gender, and Mental Health: Considering the Links between the Mental Health of Incarcerated Women and the Gendered Pains of Imprisonment

    Timothy G. Edgemon & Brittany T. Martin

    33. New Prison Masculinities in Carceral Spaces

    Dwayne Antojado

    34. ‘Sick and Tired’: A Black Feminist Criminological Approach to Gender-Responsive Care for Black Women in Corrections

    Brianne M. Posey

    35. Transgressions of the U.S. Prison System: The Mistreatment of Incarcerated Transgender Persons

    Susana Avalos

    X. HEALTH INTERVENTIONS IN PRISON AND DURING REINTEGRATION

    36. Cycles of Disadvantage: A Critical Examination of Trauma, Health, and the Community Reentry Experience

    Michael R. Menefee, Cherrell Green, Shannon Magnuson, and Tameka Vaught Williams

    37. Reimagining Rehabilitation: A Public Health Approach to Transforming Mass Incarceration

    Ginny E. Oshiro

    38. A New Vision for Punishment and Treatment: Re-Thinking Punishment and Rehabilitation for People Convicted of Sex Offenses

    Jason Kahler

    39. Exploring Knowledge Gaps in Healthcare Approaches to Violence Intervention

    C. Clare Strange and Sheetal Ranjan

    XI. CONCLUDING REMARKS

    40. Health and Punishment Challenges Worthy of Our Attention

    Homer Venters

    41. Outro: A Paradigm Shift from Crime, Punishment, & Rehabilitation to Health, Human Rights, Human Dignity, and Hope

    Carrie Pettus

    Biography

    Nathan W. Link is an Associate Professor of Criminal Justice at Rutgers University, Camden. Link researches and writes about issues and barriers faced by those experiencing incarceration, prison reentry, and other forms of community control. Much of his recent work examines financial sanctions, health, and reintegration dynamics among people leaving custodial sentences. With a focus on policy, much of his current fieldwork is aimed at understanding how systems function and attempting to create more humane and equitable processes and outcomes.

    Meghan A. Novisky is an Associate Professor in the Department of Criminology and Sociology at Cleveland State University. Her research investigates conditions of confinement, health-related impacts of and experiences within carceration, and criminal justice policy and practice. She is a multi-methods scholar with expertise in original data collection and qualitative methodology.

    Chantal Fahmy is an Associate Professor in the Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice at The University of Texas at San Antonio. Her research focuses on reentry and reintegration from prison, health criminology, and the intersection of public health and incarceration. Her work explores linkages between criminal justice system contact and how those interactions affect various facets of health(e.g., social health).