Exposure to the US Criminal Legal System and Well-Being: A 2018 Cross-Sectional Study.
Journal Article (Journal Article)
Objectives. To assess the association between exposure to the US criminal legal system and well-being.Methods. We used data from the 2018 Family History of Incarceration Survey, a nationally representative cross-sectional study of family incarceration experience (n = 2815), which includes measures of participants' own criminal legal system exposure, including police stops, arrests, and incarceration. We measured well-being across 5 domains-physical, mental, social, spiritual, and overall life evaluation-and analyzed trends in well-being by criminal legal system exposure using logistic regression.Results. Exposure to police stops, arrests, and incarceration were each associated with lower well-being in every domain compared with those not exposed. Longer durations of incarceration and multiple incarcerations were associated with progressively lower well-being. Those who were stopped and frisked by the police had low well-being similar to that of those who had been incarcerated multiple times.Conclusions. Any exposure to police contact or incarceration is associated with lower well-being in every domain. More involved exposure is associated with even lower well-being.Public Health Implications. Jail diversion and broader criminal justice reform may improve population-level well-being by reducing police contact and incarceration.
Full Text
Duke Authors
Cited Authors
- Sundaresh, R; Yi, Y; Roy, B; Riley, C; Wildeman, C; Wang, EA
Published Date
- January 2020
Published In
Volume / Issue
- 110 / S1
Start / End Page
- S116 - S122
PubMed ID
- 31967880
Pubmed Central ID
- PMC6987921
Electronic International Standard Serial Number (EISSN)
- 1541-0048
International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)
- 0090-0036
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
- 10.2105/ajph.2019.305414
Language
- eng