ABSTRACT
Health considerations in carceral settings are especially worthy of empirical attention for at least three reasons. For one, the United States is a world leader in incarceration. Over two million people remain incarcerated across the United State, with roughly 10 million new jail admissions tracked annually. Second, incarcerated individuals tend to have poorer health relative to the general population. Third, incarceration and the conditions of confinement are traumatic experiences that have lifelong consequences that can act as pathways for the development of new health concerns that affect an individual's quality of life, social and economic productivity, and emotional well-being. This part introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters. The part offers two useful examples of how health criminology research in carceral spaces can be expanded and used to better understand the quality of carceral life that affects positive and negative consequences.
