Social Justice Commons^™

Strengthening U.S. Jail Systems’ Response To Infectious Diseases: An Evaluation Of The Covid-19 Pandemic, Erinn Bacchus

Dissertations and Theses

Jails across the United States were struck with increased infections and deaths during the COVID-19 pandemic. Studies have shown the structural make up of jails, lack of preparedness plans, and overcrowding contributed to health risks and poor health outcomes both inside jails and local communities. Yet little research has been dedicated to strengthening jail responses to infectious disease outbreaks spanning prevention measures, data collection, and reentry planning. Gaps include information on the (1) myriad infectious disease mitigation strategies used in jails and adherence to CDC prevention guidelines, (2) development of a standardized epidemiologic surveillance system, and (3) experiences working at …

Voices Beyond Bars: A Qualitative Study Examining Occupational Participation For Formerly Incarcerated Women, Brianna Correia, Mary Smith Otd, Otr/L, Cynthia Simons Rps, Mhps

Spring 2024 Virtual OTD Capstone Symposium

This capstone project addressed the research question: “What are the systemic, societal, and personal barriers and facilitators to occupational participation and engagement that formerly incarcerated women experience in Texas?” The project aimed to advocate for formerly incarcerated women living in Texas by interviewing and collaborating with them to create an advocacy booklet highlighting their lived experiences. Following USAHS IRB approval, recruitment, and screening, 20 participants engaged in a semi-structured interview via Zoom. Insights on their experience post-incarceration in Texas regarding housing, employment, family, healthcare, and change were explored. The data obtained was analyzed and codes and themes were identified. When …

The Pima County Jail In A “State Of Full-Blown Crisis”: Inmate Deaths Four Times The National Average, Natalie Robbins

Capstones

Last year, 12 inmates died in custody at the Pima County Jail in Tucson, Arizona. With a 10-year average jail population of 1,827, that is a per capita rate of 656.8 deaths per 100,000 inmates.

According to the most recent data from the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the 2019 national local jail mortality rate was 167 deaths for every 100,000 inmates, making the Pima County Jail’s 2022 per capita death rate nearly four times as high as the national average in 2019.

In a December 2022 memo to the Pima County Board of Supervisors, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos wrote …

The Impact Of The Covid-19 Pandemic On The Well-Being Of People Incarcerated In United States Prisons, Kimberly Rivera

Department of Sociology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The COVID-19 pandemic has negatively impacted the population as a whole. However, the incarcerated population (which also experiences a variety of health disparities) has been disproportionately affected by the pandemic. Due to overcrowding, poor ventilation, and lack of resources, the incarcerated population already is at a heightened risk for negative health outcomes, made worse by the recent pandemic. To adapt to the rapidly changing conditions during the pandemic in 2020 and into 2022, new safety measures were implemented, but the unintended consequences associated with the implementation of these procedures have yet to be examined empirically. I conducted a qualitative content …

Experiences Of Kinship And Connection To Family For Aboriginal And Torres Strait Islander Young Men With Histories Of Incarceration, Shelley Joy Walker, Michael Doyle, Mark Stoové Professor, Troy Combo, Mandy Wilson

Journal of the Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet

Epidemiological approaches have brought important attention to the issues surrounding the over-incarceration of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people, and the enormous health and socio-economic disparities they face. An implicit discourse often exists within the construction of this “knowledge”, however, that situates Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people in deficit terms.

Using narrative inquiry, a methodological approach congruent with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture and ways of knowing, we aim to challenge this dominant discourse, via an examination of the narratives of eight Aboriginal Torres Strait Islander young men (aged 19-24 years) involved in the criminal justice …

Barred By Their Brains: Inmates With Traumatic Brain Injury (Tbi), Claire Mikita

The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice

Abstract forthcoming.

Adverse Childhood Experiences And Their Connection To Autoimmune Disease In Adulthood, Emma J. Molden

Honors Theses

Everyday in the United States, a child experiences a traumatic event. Autoimmune disease is one of the top two leading causes of death in the United States. Can these two horrifying events be connected? Autoimmune diseases currently affect millions of Americans and are considered an epidemic because of their prevalence within the adult population. Even with a high number of cases, this possible connection has been largely ignored and under researched for the history of modern medicine. However, two studies have begun to make the connection between adverse childhood experiences and how that affects the onset of autoimmune diseases in …