Impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the experiences of incarcerated pregnant people.

IF 3 Q1 CRIMINOLOGY & PENOLOGY Health and Justice Pub Date : 2024-10-19 DOI:10.1186/s40352-024-00296-3

L Noël Marsh, Camille Kramer, Rebecca J Shlafer, Carolyn B Sufrin

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Abstract

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic disproportionately impacted incarcerated populations, yet few studies have investigated the specific effects on incarcerated pregnant people. This study compares pregnant people's experiences of pregnancy and parenting in prison before and during the pandemic in order to explore the impacts of COVID-19 on this population.

Methods: We conducted semi-structured interviews with pregnant people at a state prison as part of a larger study on pregnant people's experiences during incarceration. Interviews explored participants' experiences and decision-making related to pregnancy and parenting while incarcerated. This secondary analysis compared interviews conducted between June 2019 and March 2020 (pre-COVID-19) to interviews conducted between June and November 2020 (during COVID-19). Interviews conducted during the pandemic included questions about the impact of COVID-19 on participants' experiences. Brief three and six-month follow-up interviews were conducted when possible.

Results: COVID-19 introduced new stressors and exacerbated preexisting stressors around participants' reproductive and parenting experiences. Three major themes emerged: 1) incarceration causes mental, emotional, and physical distress during pregnancy and parenting; 2) COVID-19 worsened conditions of incarceration, contributing to participants' distress; and 3) the introduction of quarantine protocols during the pandemic felt uniquely punitive for pregnant and postpartum people.

Conclusions: The COVID-19 pandemic was characterized as a major crisis and primary threat to public health, particularly for incarcerated individuals. Yet just as COVID-19 exacerbated preexisting disparities for marginalized, non-incarcerated communities, incarcerated pregnant people similarly described a "worsening" of already-intolerable conditions. The indiscriminate application of quarantine protocols for pregnant people reflects broader carceral logics of control that do not account for the wellbeing of pregnant and postpartum people and their infants, as evidenced by current practices of infant separation, a lack of support, and physically taxing living conditions.

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COVID-19 大流行对被监禁孕妇经历的影响。

背景：COVID-19 大流行对被监禁人群的影响尤为严重，但很少有研究调查被监禁孕妇受到的具体影响。本研究比较了大流行之前和期间孕妇在监狱中的怀孕和育儿经历，以探讨 COVID-19 对这一人群的影响：我们对一所州立监狱的孕妇进行了半结构化访谈，这是一项关于孕妇在监禁期间经历的大型研究的一部分。访谈探讨了参与者在监禁期间与怀孕和养育子女有关的经历和决策。这项二次分析比较了 2019 年 6 月至 2020 年 3 月（COVID-19 前）进行的访谈和 2020 年 6 月至 11 月（COVID-19 期间）进行的访谈。大流行期间进行的访谈包括有关 COVID-19 对参与者经历的影响的问题。在可能的情况下，还进行了为期三个月和六个月的简短后续访谈：结果：COVID-19 为参与者的生育和养育子女经历带来了新的压力，并加剧了原有的压力。结果：COVID-19 给参与者的生育和养育经历带来了新的压力，并加剧了原有的压力。出现了三大主题：1）监禁会在怀孕和养育期间造成精神、情绪和身体上的痛苦；2）COVID-19 使监禁条件恶化，加剧了参与者的痛苦；3）大流行期间引入的检疫规程对怀孕和产后人群具有独特的惩罚性：结论：COVID-19 大流行被描述为一场重大危机和对公共健康的主要威胁，尤其是对被监禁者而言。然而，正如 COVID-19 加剧了边缘化、未被监禁群体原有的不平等，被监禁的孕妇也同样描述了本已无法忍受的状况 "恶化"。对孕妇不加区分地适用隔离协议反映了更广泛的囚禁控制逻辑，这种逻辑没有考虑到孕妇和产后妇女及其婴儿的福祉，目前的婴儿分离做法、缺乏支持以及令人身心疲惫的生活条件就是证明。

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来源期刊

Health and Justice Social Sciences-Law

CiteScore

4.10

自引率

8.60%

发文量

审稿时长

13 weeks

期刊介绍： Health & Justice is open to submissions from public health, criminology and criminal justice, medical science, psychology and clinical sciences, sociology, neuroscience, biology, anthropology and the social sciences, and covers a broad array of research types. It publishes original research, research notes (promising issues that are smaller in scope), commentaries, and translational notes (possible ways of introducing innovations in the justice system). Health & Justice aims to: Present original experimental research on the area of health and well-being of people involved in the adult or juvenile justice system, including people who work in the system; Present meta-analysis or systematic reviews in the area of health and justice for those involved in the justice system; Provide an arena to present new and upcoming scientific issues; Present translational science—the movement of scientific findings into practice including programs, procedures, or strategies; Present implementation science findings to advance the uptake and use of evidence-based practices; and, Present protocols and clinical practice guidelines. As an open access journal, Health & Justice aims for a broad reach, including researchers across many disciplines as well as justice practitioners (e.g. judges, prosecutors, defenders, probation officers, treatment providers, mental health and medical personnel working with justice-involved individuals, etc.). The sections of the journal devoted to translational and implementation sciences are primarily geared to practitioners and justice actors with special attention to the techniques used.