Exposure to Family Member Incarceration and Adult Well-being in the United States

Abstract

Key Points Question Is the incarceration of a family member associated with well-being and projected life expectancy? Findings In this cross-sectional study including 2815 individuals, any family member incarceration was associated with lower well-being and a projected 2.6-year reduction in life expectancy compared with no family member incarceration experience. Among those with any family incarceration, Black respondents had an estimated 0.5 fewer years of projected life expectancy compared with White respondents. Meaning These findings suggest that efforts to decarcerate may improve population-level health and well-being by reducing racial disparities and detrimental outcomes associated with incarceration for nonincarcerated family members.

Visitar las cárceles durante la pandemia por COVID-19: el encarcelamiento como factor de desigualdad

“…62.4 % de las personas participantes afirmó tener problemas con su salud a partir de la detención de su familiar. Si bien se trata de problemas de salud autorreportados, otros estudios muestran que el encarcelamiento de un familiar está ligado con ciertos padecimientos y enfermedades (Connors et al, 2020;Lee et al, 2014;Sundaresh et al, 2021;Van de Weijer et al, 2021;Wildeman et al, 2012Wildeman et al, , 2019.…”

Compounding Trauma: the Intersections of Racism, Law Enforcement, and Injury

“…Financial strain and poverty caused by legal expenses due to arrests and incarcerations affect the health of Black people by limiting access to healthy food, safe housing, and healthcare [ 4 ]. Incarceration of a family member negatively affects the well-being and life expectancy of family members [ 78 •, 79 , 80 ]. Community level incarceration rates have been associated with pre-term births and low-weight births among women living in areas with high rates of incarceration [ 81 ].…”

Vicarious exposure to the criminal legal system among parents and siblings

“…Vicarious exposure to criminal legal system through family member involvement has been associated with a host of negative outcomes, with much of the work in this area focused on the deleterious effects of parental incarceration for children (Foster & Hagan, 2007; Geller et al, 2012; Haskins, 2014; Wakefield & Wildeman, 2011). Among adults, family member incarceration has been associated with increased physical (Goldman, 2019; Lee et al, 2014; Sirois, 2020) and mental health risks (Brown et al, 2016; Goldman, 2019; Patterson et al, 2021), shortened life expectancy (Sundaresh et al, 2021), and declines in household wealth (Sykes & Maroto, 2016). A relatively small but growing number of studies further show that arrests and other forms of police contact have detrimental impacts on family members.…”

“…The disproportionate risks of arrest, correctional supervision, and incarceration among poor young Black boys and men, for example, mean that the family members of these young people also experience heightened levels of vicarious exposure to the system. Criminal legal system contacts have been linked to a host of negative spillover effects for family members, including strained or reduced relationship quality (Bacak & Kennedy, 2015; Turney & Sugie, 2021; Williams & Perry, 2019), increased health risks (Brown et al, 2016; Goldman, 2019; Patterson et al, 2021; Roberts et al, 2014), shortened life expectancy (Sundaresh et al, 2021), and declines in household economic resources (Sykes & Maroto, 2016). In these ways, the expansion of police surveillance and punitive punishment over the past several decades had harmful consequences both for system involved young people and for the family members who care for and about them.…”