Incarceration Prevention

America imprisons more people than any other country by a considerable margin. What social conditions create this situation? How can public health understand and address the health effects of mass incarceration?

Faculty in Incarceration Prevention

Angela Aidala

Associate Research Scientist

Sociomedical Sciences

Alwyn Cohall

Professor

Sociomedical Sciences, Population and Family Health, and Pediatrics at the Columbia University Medical Center

Bruce Armstrong

Special Lecturer

Population and Family Health

Diana Hernandez

Associate Professor

Sociomedical Sciences

Ruth Finkelstein

Adjunct Assistant Professor

Health Policy and Management

George Musa

Assistant Professor of Clinical

Epidemiology (in Psychiatry)

Seth Prins

Assistant Professor

Epidemiology and Sociomedical Sciences

Carole Hutchinson

Adjunct Assistant Professor

Sociomedical Sciences

News & Features

Webinar Examines Vaccination Priorities for Incarcerated Populations

The United States has the greatest number of incarcerated people in the world, with disproportionally high numbers of people of color behind bars. It shouldn’t be surprising then that rates of COVID-19, already high in the U.S., are even higher in jails and prisons. So far, however, the avai

Incarceration Is Strongly Linked with Premature Death in U.S.

An analysis of U.S. county-level data found a strong association between jail incarceration and death rates from infectious diseases, chronic lower respiratory disease, drug use, and suicide, in a new study by Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. The researchers found this wa

Racism and Anti-Gay Discrimination Heighten Risk for Arrest and Incarceration

New research by Morgan Philbin, PhD, at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health and colleagues looks at why Black young men who have sex with men (YMSM) are disproportionately subject to high rates of arrest and incarceration. They find that perceived racial discrimination, sexua

See All

Just Published

Armstrong, B.J., Kalmuss, D., Cushman, L.F., Bjarnadottir, R.I., Holstrom, A., Peters, Z.J. Valera, P., & Cohall, A.T. (2016). Academic Health Center–Community Justice Program Partnerships: Linking Men in the Justice System to Health Care. Progress in Community Health Partnerships. View Abstract.

Valera, P., Boyas, J.F., Bernal, C., Briones Chiongbian, V., Chang, Y., & Shelton., R.C. (2016). A Validation of the Group-Based Medical Mistrust Scale in Formerly Incarcerated Black and Latino Men. American Journal of Men’s Health. View abstract.

Wallace, S.A., Strike, K.S., Yonnette Marcia Glasgow, Y.M., Lynch, K. & Fullilove, R.E. (2016). 'Other than That, I’m Good': Formerly Incarcerated Young Black Men’s Self-Perceptions of Health Status. Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved. View abstract.

Cohall, A.T. (2016). Falling Through the Cracks: Young Adults, Drugs, and Incarceration. American Journal of Public Health. View abstract.