Perceptions of incarcerated people: prison conditions, public health, and justice in the United States.

Carceral conditions in the United States may serve as a proxy for crises within justice and health systems. This study seeks to consider and measure prison climate from the perspective of incarcerated people. By examining within-facility differences in carceral experiences, results shed light on the complex nexus between the carceral context, health, and justice. We administered the Prison Climate Questionnaire (PCQ) to the complete population of incarcerated men in a correctional facility located in the Eastern United States. In this facility, housing units hold distinct populations, fulfill different functions, and can offer unique programming. We regress select items from the PCQ on a set of dummies corresponding to different residential units within the facility. Responses indicate low but relatively uniform perceptions of overall personal health, as well as access to, and satisfaction with, medical care. Between-unit differences emerge regarding staff relationships, experiences of discrimination, and levels of isolation. The perspectives of incarcerated people can, and should, play a role in understanding and conceptualizing the nature of the prison environment. Policy responses, especially those that impact the health and well-being of currently and formerly incarcerated people, can be informed by these perspectives.

Leaving Their Drugs at the Gate? Exploring Changes in Drug Use From Before to During Incarceration in Norway.

As the number of incarcerated persons who use drugs increases in many countries, it is important to understand the nature of drug use in prison by exploring how substance use patterns change from before to during incarceration. In this study, we rely on cross-sectional, self-report data from The Norwegian Offender Mental Health and Addiction (NorMA) study to identify the nature of changes in drug use among incarcerated respondents who reported having used either narcotics, non-prescribed medications, or both, during the 6 months before their incarceration (n = 824). Results show that about 60% (n = 490) stop using drugs. Of the remaining 40% (n = 324), about 86% changed their use patterns. Most commonly, incarcerated people stopped using stimulants and started using opioids; switching from cannabis to stimulants was the least common change. Overall, the study illustrates that the prison context leads most individuals to change their use patterns, some in unanticipated ways.

Fathers' Use of Parental Leave and Union Dissolution.

With increasing union dissolution and changing gender behaviour, questions have emerged about possible links between gender equality and union stability. The aim of this article is to examine whether and how early fathers' involvement in child-rearing is associated with union dissolution in three Nordic countries. All three countries have reserved part of their parental leave to be used by one parent in order to promote fathers' engagement in child-rearing. Our analysis uses fathers' parental leave as a proxy for his involvement, and we distinguish between fathers who take no leave ("non-conforming fathers"), fathers who take only the reserved part ("policy-conforming fathers") and fathers who take more than the reserved part ("gender-egalitarian-oriented fathers"). We find that couples in which the father uses parental leave have a lower risk of union dissolution than couples in which the father takes no leave. The pattern is consistent for all countries, for the whole study period 1993-2011, and for cohabiting and married couples. However, we do not find support for asserting that the couples with greatest gender equality, in which fathers take longer leave than the policy reserves, are the most stable unions, as the pattern is not uniform in the three countries. We attribute this to the fact that gender equality within the family in the Nordic countries is still an ongoing process, and the relationship between gender behaviour and union stability is still in flux.