{"id":11256,"date":"2018-02-04T05:28:04","date_gmt":"2018-02-04T05:28:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/?p=11256"},"modified":"2018-02-05T05:32:49","modified_gmt":"2018-02-05T05:32:49","slug":"how-mass-incarceration-harms-u-s-health-in-5-charts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/how-mass-incarceration-harms-u-s-health-in-5-charts\/","title":{"rendered":"How mass incarceration harms U.S. health, in 5 charts"},"content":{"rendered":"

<Emily Nagisa Keehn<\/a>, Harvard University<\/a><\/em> and J. Wesley Boyd<\/a>, Harvard University<\/a><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

The U.S. incarcerates a higher percentage of its citizens than any other country in the world<\/a>. <\/p>\n

There\u2019s little doubt among researchers that mass incarceration is wreaking havoc on our society, in particular on people of color, LGBTQ and the poor. What\u2019s often overlooked in this discussion is the damage that prisons and jails do to our health \u2013 from those who are incarcerated to their family members waiting at home to those who work in detention settings. <\/p>\n

As researchers and advocates, we have studied mass incarceration issues and started discussions<\/a> on the ethics of this practice. To us, the evidence is clear: Mass incarceration is a public health scourge in the U.S. <\/p>\n

The only reasonable response is to limit the unnecessary use of incarceration across the board \u2013 as lawmakers in New Jersey<\/a> and Maryland<\/a> are attempting to do.<\/p>\n

Incarceration and health<\/h2>\n

Each year, an estimated 1,000 people die while incarcerated in local jails<\/a>.<\/p>\n