250765 US Prisons are Dangerous to the Public's Health

Monday, October 31, 2011: 3:30 PM

Corey Weinstein, MD , Private Practice of Medicine, San Francisco, CA
  
     
The US war on crime and illegal drug use hasn't decreased either. But that wasn't the purpose. The political goal has been to divert the public from pressing social and economic problems, and from corporate crime to street crime. The social goal has been to neutralize the new dangerous nonwhite ghetto youth, forcing them to lay low at the edge of society. Our communities have been harmed by this strategy in many ways. Tax money has been diverted into building and maintaining prisons. The social fabric of poor communities has been disrupted. Prison culture has a deeper impact on communities. Felons are disenfranchised. Personal safety and security concerns (delusions) replace the desire for cooperative organizations. And the health of the public is ignored and prisoners released unprepared for work or socialization to communities less able to assist them.

Learning Areas:
Advocacy for health and health education
Diversity and culture
Ethics, professional and legal requirements
Implementation of health education strategies, interventions and programs
Provision of health care to the public
Public health or related public policy

Learning Objectives:
Explain how mass incarceration impacts poor and minority communities.

Keywords: Social Justice, Health Disparities

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: Member APHA IHRC and Jail and Prison Health Committee
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

See more of: Prisons: Community health promotion or harm?
See more of: APHA-International Human Rights Committee