Does Prison Kill? Using linked datasets to examine relationships between imprisonment, inequality and mortality

People who have been to prison die earlier from all causes than those who have not, and the reasons for this are not well understood. Ex-prisoners have higher mortality rates for causes of death due to suicide, homicide, accidental overdose, as well as higher all-cause mortality levels. Research to date has focused on the poor health and complex needs and issues of many people prior to or following time in prison, and only recently have researchers begun to set these issues in a wider context of deprivation and inequality and to consider the health effects of prison. This project will link a range of Scottish datasets including mortality, prison experience, health, education and neighbourhood to explore relationships between health, deprivation and imprisonment. The aggregate picture revealed in the data linkage project will allow for analyses that can enrich understanding of the interactions of imprisonment, mortality and inequality. Overall, the project aims to identify how particular contextual factors, such as living in poverty, poor housing conditions, lack of educational attainment, and poor health circumstances interact to produce the material consequences that result in a person ending up in prison; and secondly, to document how the nature and length of imprisonment impacts on risk of mortality and other health outcomes. A specific contribution of this research is in relating the analysis to an understanding of imprisonment as an aspect of inequality and social exclusion that can have lethal effects for individuals. This project thereby would significantly contribute to our understanding of the nature and profound effects of inequality in the prisoner journey and enable policy makers and practitioners to more effectively respond to these challenges and prevent early deaths.