Heterogeneous and racialized impacts of state incarceration policies on birth outcomes in the United States.
While state incarceration policies have received much attention in research on the causes of mass incarceration in the United States, their roles in shaping population health and health disparities remain largely unknown. Merging data on state incarceration policies to vital statistics birth records...
| Publicado en: | Social Forces Vol. 104; no. 4; pp. 1562 - 1587 |
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| Autores principales: | , , , |
| Formato: | Artículo |
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Oxford University Press / USA
Jun2026
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| Acceso en línea: | Ver este registro en EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ssf&AN=193469024&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: ssf uiTerm: 193469024 longDbName: Social Sciences Full Text (H.W. Wilson) uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 00377732 SFR jtl: Social Forces issn: 00377732 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: Jun2026 vid: 104 iid: 4 pid: 622 pub: Oxford University Press / USA artinfo: ui: 193469024 10.1093/sf/soaf127 ppf: 1562 ppct: 25 formats: tig: atl: Heterogeneous and racialized impacts of state incarceration policies on birth outcomes in the United States. aug: au: Boen, Courtney E Bair, Elizabeth F Lee, Hedwig Venkataramani, Atheendar S affil: Department of Sociology, Population Studies and Training Center, Brown University, Providence, RI, United States Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States Department of Sociology, Duke University, Durham, NC, United States su: United States Criminal justice policy Racial inequality Infant health Mass incarceration Population health Health equity Sentencing guidelines (Criminal procedure) People convicted of felonies sug: subj: Criminal justice policy Racial inequality Infant health Mass incarceration Population health Health equity United States Sentencing guidelines (Criminal procedure) People convicted of felonies keyword: birth outcomes copyrightHolder:University of North Carolina Chapel Hill copyrightYear:2026 https://dx.doi.org/10.1093/sf/soaf127 incarceration inLanguage:en publisher:Oxford University Press racial disparities sameAs:https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42058388/ state policy birth outcomes copyrightHolder:University of North Carolina Chapel Hill copyrightYear:2026 https://dx.doi.org/10.1093/sf/soaf127 incarceration inLanguage:en publisher:Oxford University Press racial disparities sameAs:https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42058388/ state policy ab: While state incarceration policies have received much attention in research on the causes of mass incarceration in the United States, their roles in shaping population health and health disparities remain largely unknown. Merging data on state incarceration policies to vital statistics birth records from 1984 to 2004, we examine the impacts of two signature state incarceration policies adopted during the "tough on crime" era of the 1990s—three strikes and truth-in-sentencing—on Black and White birth outcomes. Using a difference-in-differences event study research design that models the dynamic impacts of these policies over time, we find that these policies had opposing effects on birth outcomes. Birth weight outcomes—including mean birth weight and low birth weight—for Black infants worsened markedly in the year three strikes policies were adopted. By contrast, birth outcomes for Black and White infants gradually improved after truth-in-sentencing policies were adopted. The discordant findings point to distinct, countervailing mechanisms by which sentencing policies can affect population health. We provide suggestive evidence that three strikes policies adversely impacted Black birth outcomes through affective mechanisms, by inducing highly racialized, stigmatizing, and criminalizing public discourse around the time of policy adoption. Our results indicate that truth-in-sentencing likely impacted birth outcomes via material mechanisms, by gradually reducing community incarceration and crime rates. Altogether, these findings point to the need to further interrogate state criminal legal system policies for their impacts on population health, considering whether, how, and for whom these policies result in health impacts. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: N holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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