What Is Justice Health?

Justice Health is best conceived of as targeting:

(a) an especially high-risk population (those under the supervision of the justice system, either in institutions or in the community), that is

(b) served in a unique setting (one that is often offered in or coordinated by the justice system infrastructure in prisons, jails, and detention centers),

or (c) under unique circumstances in the community (for those supervised by justice systems while they continue to live at home or in more open community-based settings).

Justice health (d) includes both adults and adolescents, as well as the families of justice-involved persons.

Finally, (e) populations under the control of justice systems around the world are disproportionately racial and ethnic minorities, from lower socio-economic classes, and on the whole, are under-resourced, undereducated, and suffer from constellations of social, physical and mental health problems.

Because (f) health care for these populations is often substandard, there is a common theme across the world of human rights concerns and issues of health care equity.

Page created 4/6/09
Last updated 5/13/09 2:25 PM