Compassionate Release: A Call to Social Workers
Published:
| Author: Mary-Louise Parkkila, Stephanie Prost, Stephen Tripodi
An increase in the number of older people incarcerated in prisons has given rise to increased costs of correctional health care. Despite the many benefits of compassionate release, it is rarely used. Citing barriers at the micro, mezzo, and macro levels, we contend that social workers are uniquely suited to increase the number of people released through this mechanism owing to a unique knowledge and skill set.
Category: Social Work, Incarceration, Research
The Relationship between Lifetime Opioid Use and Mental and Physical Health among Incarcerated Individuals
Published:
| Author: Tanya Renn, John Moore, Christopher Veeh, Carrie Pettus
Relationships between opioid use and health, both physical and mental, have been discovered over the last decade or so, but these relationships have yet to be explored among incarcerated individuals. These relationships are important as they may have implications on the health of those who are incarcerated and nearing reentry, because higher rates of opioid use, as well as poor physical and mental health, are found among those who are justice-involved compared with the general population.
Category: Substance Use, Mental Health, Incarceration
Behavioral health literacy: A new construct to improve outcomes among incarcerated individuals
Published:
| Author: Carrie Pettus, Stephanie Kennedy, Tanya Renn, Stephen Tripodi, Lauren Herod, Danielle Rudes, Faye Taxman
In the United States, nearly 13 million adults are incarcerated in prisons and jails annually with significant negative public health consequences. Incarcerated individuals have disproportionate rates of behavioral health disorders (BHDs); untreated BHD symptoms bring people into incarceration settings and are associated with re-arrest after release.
Category: Incarceration, Mental Health, Reentry, Substance Use
Traumatic Brain Injury and Health-Related Quality of Life: A Cross-Sectional Study of Incarcerated Adults
Published:
| Author: Christopher Veeh, Tanya Renn, John Moore
Informed by the health-based model of desistance, the current study undertook a preliminary investigation into whether TBI impacted levels of HRQoL in incarcerated adults who are preparing to be released from prison. The following research question guided the study: Do incarcerated adults with a lifetime history of TBI report lower HRQoL compared with incarcerated individuals without a TBI history? We hypothesized that TBI would have a negative association with an individual’s HRQoL.