Although the harms of incarceration on health are well known, little is known about individuals' competing priorities to maintaining their health while on probation and parole after release from incarceration. We explored individuals' competing needs on probation and parole (lack of health insurance/access, hazardous alcohol use, substance use, food insecurity, un/underemployment, housing insecurity, lack of social support, length of recent incarceration, prohibitive monthly fees, criminal legal discrimination) to achieving well-being. We explored overlap between competing needs and overall well-being. This descriptive, cross-sectional analysis assesses the relationship between competing needs and current well-being of participants in The Southern Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis Study. Of 364 enrolled participants, 48% were thriving. The most common competing need was substance use (73%). Of the 10 competing needs, participants experienced a median 4 (interquartile range [IQR] 3–6). Those considered to be thriving experienced a median 4 (IQR 3–5) competing needs while those not thriving experienced a median 5 (IQR 4–6; p < .001). People on probation and parole experience competing needs to achieving health and well-being. To improve well-being among this population, programs and policies must focus on not only the health of those exiting incarceration but also the multiple competing needs that they face.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
CrillyJ. F., CaineE. D., LambertiJ. S., BrownT., & FriedmanB. (2009). Mental health services use and symptom prevalence in a cohort of adults on probation. Psychiatric Services, 60(4), 542–544. https://doi.org/10.1176/ps.2009.60.4.542
2.
CunninghamW. E., AndersenR. M., KatzM. H., SteinM. D., TurnerB. J., CrystalS., ZierlerS., KuromiyaK., MortonS. C., St. ClairP., BozzetteS. A., & ShapiroM. F. (1999). The impact of competing subsistence needs and barriers on access to medical care for persons with human immunodeficiency virus receiving care in the United States. Medical Care, 37(12), 1270–1281. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3766943
3.
DaeppenJ.-B., YersinB., LandryU., PécoudA., & DecreyH. (2000). Reliability and validity of the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) imbedded within a general health risk screening questionnaire: Results of a survey in 332 primary care patients. Alcohol: Clinical and Experimental Research, 24(5), 659–665. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1530-0277.2000.tb02037.x
4.
DongK. R., MustA., TangA. M., BeckwithC. G., & StopkaT. J. (2018). Competing priorities that rival health in adults on probation in Rhode Island: Substance use recovery, employment, housing, and food intake. BMC Public Health, 18(1), 289. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-018-5201-7
5.
DongK. R., MustA., TangA. M., StopkaT. J., & BeckwithC. G. (2018). Food insecurity, morbidities, and substance use in adults on probation in Rhode Island. Journal of Urban Health, 95(4), 564–575. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11524-018-0290-2
6.
DongK. R., TangA. M., StopkaT. J., BeckwithC. G., & MustA. (2018). Food acquisition methods and correlates of food insecurity in adults on probation in Rhode Island. PLOS ONE, 13(6), e0198598. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0198598
7.
GutierrezC., & PattersonE. J. (2021). Risk and implications of COVID-19 among the community supervised population. Criminology & Public Policy, 20(3), 437–461. https://doi.org/10.1111/1745-9133.12563
8.
HamiltonZ., KigerlA., & HaysZ. (2015). Removing release impediments and reducing correctional costs: Evaluation of Washington State's housing voucher program. Justice Quarterly, 32(2), 255–287. https://doi.org/10.1080/07418825.2012.761720
HaysR. D., MerzJ. F., & NicholasR. (1995). Response burden, reliability, and validity of the CAGE, Short MAST, and AUDIT alcohol screening measures. Behavior Research Methods, Instruments, & Computers, 27(2), 277–280. https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03204745
JacobsL. A., & GottliebA. (2020). The effect of housing circumstances on recidivism: Evidence from a sample of people on probation in San Francisco. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 47(9), 1097–1115. https://doi.org/10.1177/0093854820942285
13.
LeMastersK., KrajewskiT., NowotnyK., OserC., MollanK., & Brinkley-RubinsteinL. (2023). Context specific HIV risk: Evidence from screening into the Southern Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis Study (SPECS). AIDS Care,, 35(4), 474–479. https://doi.org/10.1080/09540121.2022.2059054
14.
LeMastersK., OserC., CowellM., MollanK., NowotnyK., & Brinkley-RubinsteinL. (2021). Longitudinal pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) acceptability, initiation and adherence among criminal justice-involved adults in the USA: The Southern PrEP Cohort Study (SPECS) protocol. BMJ Open, 11(7), e047340. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2020-047340
PagerD., WesternB., & SugieN. (2009). Sequencing disadvantage: Barriers to employment facing young black and white men with criminal records. Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 623(1), 195–213. https://doi.org/10.1177/0002716208330793
19.
PettitB., & GutierrezC. (2018). Mass incarceration and racial inequality. American Journal of Economics and Sociology, 77(3–4), 1153–1182. https://doi.org/10.1111/ajes.12241
20.
PhelpsM. S. (2013). The paradox of probation: Community supervision in the age of mass incarceration. Law & Policy, 35(1–2),51–80. https://doi.org/10.1111/lapo.12002
21.
PhelpsM. S., OsmanI. H., RobertsonC. E., & ShlaferR. J. (2022). Beyond “pains” and “gains”: Untangling the health consequences of probation. Health & Justice, 10(1), 29. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40352-022-00193-7
22.
ReinertD. F., & AllenJ. P. (2007). The Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test: An update of research findings. Alcohol: Clinical and Experimental Research, 31(2), 185–199. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1530-0277.2006.00295.x
ShavitS., AminawungJ. A., BirnbaumN., GreenbergS., BertholdT., FishmanA., BuschS. H., & WangE. A. (2017). Transitions Clinic Network: Challenges and lessons in primary care for people released from prison. Health Affairs, 36(6), 1006–1015. https://doi.org/10.1377/hlthaff.2017.0089
25.
SimesJ. T. (2019). Place after prison: Neighborhood attainment and attachment during reentry. Journal of Urban Affairs, 41(4), 443–463. https://doi.org/10.1080/07352166.2018.1495041
26.
StiefelM., RileyC., RoyB., RamaswamyR., & StoutS. (2016). 100 Million Healthier Lives Metrics Development Team Report. Cambridge (MA): Institute for Healthcare Improvement.
27.
SundareshR., YiY., RoyB., RileyC., WildemanC., & WangE. A. (2020). Exposure to the US criminal legal system and well-being: A 2018 cross-sectional study. American Journal of Public Health, 110(S1),S116–S122. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2019.305414
WangE. A., ZhuG. A., EvansL., Carroll-ScottA., DesaiR., & FiellinL. E. (2013). A pilot study examining food insecurity and HIV risk behaviors among individuals recently released from prison. AIDS Education and Prevention, 25(2), 112–123. https://doi.org/10.1521/aeap.2013.25.2.112
30.
WildemanC., GoldmanA. W., & WangE. A. (2019). Age-standardized mortality of persons on probation, in jail, or in state prison and the general population, 2001–2012. Public Health Reports, 134(6), 660–666. https://doi.org/10.1177/0033354919879732
31.
WildemanC., & WangE. A. (2017). Mass incarceration, public health, and widening inequality in the USA. The Lancet, 389(10077), 1464–1474. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(17)30259-3
32.
WilliamsD. R., YuY., JacksonJ. S., & AndersonN. B. (1997). Racial differences in physical and mental health: Socioeconomic status, stress, and discrimination. Journal of Health Psychology, 2(3), 335–351.
ZimetG., DahlemN., ZimetS., & FarleyG. (1998). The Multidimensional Scale of perceived social support. Journal of Personality Assessment, 52(1), 30–41.
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
