Pandemic detention: life with COVID-19 behind bars in Maryland

Joyell Arscott; Brandon Doan; Lauren Dayton; Gabriel B Eber; Carolyn B Sufrin; Chris Beyrer; Leonard Rubenstein

doi:10.3389/fpubh.2023.1217857

Pandemic detention: life with COVID-19 behind bars in Maryland

Front Public Health. 2023 Jul 20:11:1217857. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2023.1217857. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Joyell Arscott¹, Brandon Doan², Lauren Dayton², Gabriel B Eber³, Carolyn B Sufrin^{2

4}, Chris Beyrer⁵, Leonard Rubenstein³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Epidemiology and Prevention Science, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, United States.
² Department of Health, Behavior and Society, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, United States.
³ Center for Public Health and Human Rights, Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, United States.
⁴ Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States.
⁵ Duke Global Health Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, United States.

Abstract

Background: People incarcerated during the COVID-19 pandemic face higher vulnerability to infection due to structural and social factors in carceral settings. Additionally, due to the higher prevalence of chronic health conditions among carceral populations, they are also at risk for more severe COVID-19 disease. This study was designed to explore the experiences of people incarcerated in prisons and jails in Maryland during the height of the pandemic.

Methods: We conducted semi-structured phone interviews between January 2021 and April 2022 with ten individuals incarcerated in Maryland carceral facilities during the height of the U.S. COVID-19 pandemic and were subsequently released from prison or jail. We transcribed the interviews, coded them, and engaged in content analysis, an inductive analytical approach to developing themes and meaning from qualitative data.

Results: Four themes emerged from participants' descriptions of their experiences: (1) distress from fear, vulnerability, and lack of knowledge about COVID-19 and how to protect themselves, (2) shortcomings of prison and jail administrators and other personnel through lack of transparency and arbitrary and punitive enforcement of COVID-19 protocols, (3) lack of access to programming and communication with others, and (4) absence of preparation for release and access to usual re-entry services.

Conclusion: Participants responded that the prison and jails' response during the COVID-19 pandemic was ill-prepared, inconsistent, and without appropriate measures to mitigate restrictions on liberty and prepare them for release. The lack of information sharing amplified their sense of fear and vulnerability unique to their incarceration status. Study findings have several institutional implications, such as requiring carceral facilities to establish public health preparedness procedures and making plans publicly available.

Keywords: COVID-19; Maryland; detention centers; incarceration; pandemic (COVID-19); re-entry; release process.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Administrative Personnel
COVID-19* / epidemiology
Communication
Humans
Maryland / epidemiology
Pandemics