Hutchinson-Colas Juana, Earnhardt Mary Cathryn, Mannan Afsara, McGreevy James, Bachmann Gloria A
Women's Health Institute, Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, 125 Paterson Street, 08901, New Brunswick, NJ, USA.
Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, 125 Paterson Street, 08901, New Brunswick, NJ, USA.
Womens Midlife Health. 2022 Nov 5;8(1):12. doi: 10.1186/s40695-022-00081-y.
High recidivism rates indicate that current forms of imprisonment may be an ineffective response to problems that mainly burden those ensconced in poverty and marginalization. Homelessness, unemployment, racial disparities, drug use, and mental illness, disappear from public view when the afflicted individuals are relegated to a life behind bars. Women are the fastest growing prison population and most incarcerated women are from Black and Latinx groups. Structural racism encompasses the many ways in which society fosters racial discrimination through mutually reinforcing unfair systems of housing, education, employment, earnings, benefits, credit, media, health care, and criminal justice. In turn, this behavior reinforces discriminatory beliefs, values, and distribution of resources. Structural racism pervades every aspect of society, including the carceral system, from policing to prosecutorial decisions, pretrial release processes, sentencing, correctional discipline, and even reentry. Women constitute a minority within the carceral system, and as a result, their unique health care needs, especially during the midlife period, are inadequately addressed and often overlooked. There is also a general lack of gender sensitivity and special considerations in existing jail and prison policies and practices. This commentary highlights the impact of structural racism on the arrests and incarceration of women, and discusses their special health and wellness needs, with emphasis on midlife women. It also illuminates the need to address structural racism and its ripple effects within the carceral system.
高累犯率表明，当前的监禁形式可能无法有效应对主要困扰那些陷入贫困和边缘化群体的问题。当受影响的个人被关进监狱时，无家可归、失业、种族差异、吸毒和精神疾病等问题便从公众视野中消失了。女性是监狱人口中增长最快的群体，大多数被监禁的女性来自黑人和拉丁裔群体。结构性种族主义涵盖了社会通过相互强化的不公平住房、教育、就业、收入、福利、信贷、媒体、医疗保健和刑事司法系统来助长种族歧视的多种方式。反过来，这种行为又强化了歧视性的信仰、价值观和资源分配。结构性种族主义渗透到社会的各个方面，包括监禁系统，从治安到检察决定、审前释放程序、量刑、惩教纪律，甚至重新融入社会。女性在监禁系统中占少数，因此，她们独特的医疗保健需求，尤其是在中年时期，没有得到充分满足，而且常常被忽视。现有的监狱政策和做法也普遍缺乏性别敏感性和特殊考虑。本评论强调了结构性种族主义对女性被捕和监禁的影响，并讨论了她们特殊的健康和保健需求，重点是中年女性。它还阐明了应对结构性种族主义及其在监禁系统中的连锁反应的必要性。
