On average, incarcerated people have higher rates of poor health, mental illness, and histories of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) than the general population. This mixed-methods analysis examines the relationship between ACEs and poor adult health among a sample of formerly incarcerated people. The quantitative analysis (N = 122) shows childhood adversity is associated with various health conditions in adulthood, although the strength of this relationship varies by the kinds of ACEs respondents encountered. The qualitative analysis of life history timelines (N = 42) reveals two pathways relating ACEs to poor health and legal system involvement: (1) violence and victimization and (2) drug use as a coping mechanism. Unaddressed mental health challenges in the aftermath of adversity emerged as an important precursor to both pathways. Prisons lack a meaningful consideration of these early life events and the social structures that result in the high rates of vulnerable people in its care.
AbramKaren M.TeplinLaura A.1991. “Co-occurring Disorders among Mentally Ill Jail Detainees: Implications for Public Policy.” American Psychologist46(10):1036–45.
2.
AbramKaren M.TeplinLinda A.McClellandGary M.2003. “Comorbidity of Severe Psychiatric Disorders and Substance Use Disorders among Women in Jail.” American Journal of Psychiatry160(5):1007–10.
3.
AbramsonMarc F.1972. “The Criminalization of Mentally Disordered Behavior: Possible Side Effect of a New Mental Health Law.” Hospital and Community Psychiatry23(4):101–107.
4.
American Psychiatric Association. 2013. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. 5th ed.Arlington, VA: American Psychiatric Association.
5.
AndersonElijah. 1999. Code of the Street: Decency, Violence, and the Moral Life of the Inner City. New York, NY: W. W. Norton & Company.
6.
AvisonWilliam R.2010. “Incorporating Children’s Lives into a Life Course Perspective on Stress and Mental Health.” Journal of Health and Social Behavior51(4):361–75.
7.
BaillargeonJacquesBinswangerIngrid A.PennJoseph V.WilliamsBrie A.MurrayOwen J.2009. “Psychiatric Disorders and Repeat Incarcerations: The Revolving Prison Door.” American Journal of Psychiatry166(1):103–109.
8.
BronsonJenniferBerzofskyMarcus. 2017. Indicators of Mental Health Problems Reported by Prisoners and Jail Inmates, 2011–12. Washington, DC: Bureau of Justice Statistics.
9.
ChapmanDaniel P.WhitfieldCharles L.FelittiVincent J.DubeShanta R.EdwardsValerie J.AndaRobert F.2004. “Adverse Childhood Experiences and the Risk of Depressive Disorders in Adulthood.” Journal of Affective Disorders82(2):217–25.
10.
CorbinJulietStraussAnselm. 1990. “Grounded Theory Research: Procedures, Canons, and Evaluative Criteria.” Qualitative Sociology13(1):3–21.
11.
DesmondMatthewWesternBruce. 2018. “Poverty in America: New Directions and Debates.” Annual Review of Sociology44:305–18.
12.
DubeShanta R.FelittiVincent J.DongMaxiaChapmanDaniel P.GilesWayne H.AndaRobert F.2003. “Childhood Abuse, Neglect, and Household Dysfunction and the Risk of Illicit Drug Use: The Adverse Childhood Experiences Study.” Pediatrics111(3):564–72.
13.
ElderGlen H.1998. “The Life Course as Developmental Theory.” Child Development69(1):1–12.
14.
EvansGary W.2004. “The Environment of Childhood Poverty.” American Psychologist59(2):77–92.
15.
FelittiVincent J.AndaRobert F.NordenbergDaleWilliamsonDavid F.SpitzAlison M.EdwardsValerieKossMary P.MarksJames S.1998. “Relationship of Childhood Abuse and Household Dysfunction to Many of the Leading Causes of Death in Adults.” American Journal of Preventive Medicine14(4):245–58.
16.
FoxKathryn J.1999. “Changing Violent Minds: Discursive Correction and Resistance in the Cognitive Treatment of Violent Offenders in Prison.” Social Problems46(1):88–103.
17.
GoodwinRenee D.HovenChristina W.MurisonRobertHotopfMathew. 2003. “Association between Childhood Physical Abuse and Gastrointestinal Disorders and Migraine in Adulthood.” American Journal of Public Health93(7):1065–67.
18.
GreeneJossDalkeIsaac. 2021. “‘You’re Still an Angry Man’: Parole Boards and Logics of Criminalized Masculinity.” Theoretical Criminology25(4):639–62.
19.
HaneyLynne. 2004. “Introduction: Gender, Welfare, and States of Punishment.” Social Politics: International Studies in Gender, State, & Society11(3):333–62.
20.
HickenMargaret T.LeeHedwigMorenoffJeffreyHouseJames S.WilliamsDavid R.2014. “Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Hypertension Prevalence: Reconsidering the Role of Chronic Stress.” American Journal of Public Health104(1):117–23.
21.
LambH. RichardWeinbergerLinda E.GrossBruce H.2004. “Mentally Ill Persons in the Criminal Justice System: Some Perspectives.” Psychiatric Quarterly75(2):107–26.
22.
LaursenJulieHenriksenAnn-Karina. 2019. “Altering Violent Repertoires: Perspectives on Violence in the Prison-Based Cognitive-Behavioral ProgramAnger Management.” Journal of Contemporary Ethnography48(2):261–86.
23.
LinkBruce G.PhelanJo. 1995. “Social Conditions as Fundamental Causes of Disease.” Journal of Health and Social Behavior (Extra Issue):80–94.
24.
MaruschakLaura M.BerzofskyMarcus. 2015. Medical Problems of State and Federal Prisoners and Jail Inmates, 2011–12. Washington, DC: Bureau of Justice Statistics.
25.
MassogliaMichael. 2008. “Incarceration as Exposure: The Prison, Infectious Disease, and Other Stress-Related Illnesses.” Journal of Health and Social Behavior49(1):56–71.
26.
ModestinJiriAmmannRoland. 1996. “Mental Disorder and Criminality: Male Schizophrenia.” Schizophrenia Bulletin22(1):69–82.
27.
NahinRichard L.2015. “Estimates of Pain Prevalence and Severity in Adults: United States, 2012.” The Journal of Pain16(8):769–80.
28.
PearlinLeonard I.MenaghanElizabeth G.LiebermanMorton A.MullanJoseph T.1981. “The Stress Process.” Journal of Health and Social Behavior22(4):337–56.
29.
PetersonJillianSkeemJennifer L.HartElizaVidalSarahKeithFelicia. 2010. “Analyzing Offense Patterns as a Function of Mental Illness to Test the Criminalization Hypothesis.” Psychiatric Services61(12):1217–22.
30.
PickardHanna. 2012. “The Purpose in Chronic Addiction.” AJOB Neuroscience3(2):40–49.
31.
ReavisJames A.LoomanJanFrancoKristina A.RojasBriana. 2013. “Adverse Childhood Experiences and Adult Criminality: How Long Must We Live before We Possess Our Own Lives?” The Permanente Journal17(2):44–48.
32.
SchnittkerJasonMassogliaMichaelUggenChristopher. 2012. “Out and Down: Incarceration and Psychiatric Disorders.” Journal of Health and Social Behavior53(4):448–64.
33.
SpringerKristen W.SheridanJenniferKuoDaphneCarnesMolly. 2007. “Long-Term Physical and Mental Health Consequences of Childhood Physical Abuse: Results from a Large Population-Based Sample of Men and Women.” Child Abuse & Neglect31(5):517–30.
34.
StuartForrest. 2018. Down, out, and under Arrest: Policing and Everyday Life in Skid Row. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
35.
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. 2012. “Results from the 2011 National Survey on Drug Use and Health: Mental Health Findings.” HHS Publication No. (SMA) 12-4725. Rockville, MD: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
36.
TeplinLinda A.1983. “The Criminalization of the Mentally Ill: Speculation in Search of Data.” Psychological Bulletin94(1):54–67.
37.
TorreyE. Fuller. 1995. “Editorial: Jails and Prisons—America’s New Mental Hospitals.” American Journal of Public Health85(12):1611–13.
38.
TravisJeremyWesternBruceRedburnSteve, eds. 2014. The Growth of Incarceration in the United States: Exploring Causes and Consequences. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
39.
WacquantLoïc. 2009. Punishing the Poor: The Neoliberal Government of Social Insecurity. Durham, NC: Duke University Press Books.
40.
WangEmily A.PletcherMarkLinFengVittinghoffEricKerteszStefan G.KiefeCatarina I.Bibbins-DomingoKirsten. 2009. “Incarceration, Incident Hypertension, and Access to Healthcare: Findings from the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) Study.” Archives of Internal Medicine169(7):687–93.
41.
Watkins-HayesCeleste. 2019. Remaking a Life. Oakland: University of California Press.
42.
WesternBruce. 2007. Punishment and Inequality in America. New York, NY: Russell Sage Foundation.
43.
WesternBruce. 2015. “Lifetimes of Violence in a Sample of Released Prisoners.” Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences1(2):14–30.
44.
WesternBruce. 2018. Homeward: Life in the Year after Prison. New York, NY: Russell Sage Foundation.
45.
WesternBruceBragaAnthonyKohlRhiana. 2017. “A Longitudinal Survey of Newly Released Prisoners: Methods and Design of the Boston Reentry Study.” Federal Probation81(1):32–40.
46.
WidomCathy SpatzCzajaSally J.DuttonMary Ann. 2008. “Childhood Victimization and Lifetime Revictimization.” Child Abuse & Neglect32(8):785–96.
47.
WidomCathy SpatzWeilerBarbara LuntzCottierLinda B.1999. “Childhood Victimization and Drug Abuse: A Comparison of Prospective and Retrospective Findings.” Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology67(6):867–80.
48.
WilperAndrew P.WoolhandlerSteffieBoydJ. WesleyLasserKaren E.McCormickDannyBorDavid H.HimmelsteinDavid U.2009. “The Health and Health Care of U.S. Prisoners: Results of a Nationwide Survey.” American Journal of Public Health99(4):666–72.
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.
