Neighborhood Disorder and Incarceration

A recently released public health study, linked to in the post title (to view the full text, access SagePub through Columbia), by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health suggests that neighborhood characteristics may be determinants of "incarceration vulnerability." The authors stress the importance of altering neighborhood and residential conditions to reduce incarceration and recidivism. 


The study states that "there are gaps in the literature about how neighborhoods may be associated with incarceration history/vulnerability and recidivism." The study provides a thoughtful argument through empirical evidence (the authors note a definite causal pathway could not be determined within the confines of the study) on a familiar theme: race and incarceration. However, it highlights the impact of environmental barriers on those attempting to avoid recidivism. This research is vital precisely because it focuses on population and environmental determinants of health rather than hyper-attentiveness to individual behavior. Neighborhood-based interventions can be designed to improve multiple quality of life indicators while reducing crime, recidivism, and incarceration. 


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Neighborhood Disorder and Incarceration History Among Urban Substance Users

Damiya Whitaker, Camelia Graham, C. Debra Furr-Holden, Adam Milam and William Latimer 
J Correct Health Care 2011 17: 309 originally published online 2 October 2011
DOI: 10.1177/1078345811413092 


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