Mass incarceration in america: How much does it contribute to racial inequity in death rates?

Issues: African American men have a life expectancy 6 years shorter than white men. This study investigates the contribution of mass incarceration to this racial inequity. Description: From 1975 to 2010 the number of incarcerated men in the US increased 5-fold; this increase has disproportionately impacted African Americans. One in 106 white men are incarcerated compared to 1 in 9 African American men. Recent work has shown substantial increase in death rates of men released from prison. A study in the state of Washington found former prisoners' death rate to be 3.5 times that of the general population. Recent data from New York show a dose-response relationship between duration of incarceration and subsequent death risk. Lessons Learned: Data on increased mortality risk following incarceration were first published in Finland in 1998. Reports from US states appeared in the past 10 years, but used a variety of methods and reporting statistics. Although it seems likely that grossly disparate rates of incarceration contribute to the wide racial disparity in life expectancy for US men, no methodology has emerged to reliably estimate the size of this effect. Studies demonstrate that the huge increase in the prison population brought about by the so-called ‘war on drugs' has had no effect on illegal drug usage but has generated a multi-billion dollar prison industry and a huge incarcerated population, 58% of whom are minorities. Recommendations: The health effects of these policies need to be thoroughly evaluated, in particular their contribution to racial inequity in survival.