ABSTRACT

We review the nature and extent of COVID-19 outbreaks across corrections systems globally, and document the types of front-end, in-prison, and back-end mitigation strategies used to address the COVID-19 problem in the 50 countries with the largest prison systems; these countries house over 90% of the global prison population. For most countries, the reported rates of COVID-19 infections and deaths during the first phase of the pandemic are higher in prisons and jails than in the general community, but similar baseline data on the extent of outbreaks in the community corrections systems of these countries were unavailable. We find that: prison expansion has resulted in prison overcrowding in many large prison systems, making in-prison mitigation strategies harder to implement; large prison systems are characterized by inadequate prison infrastructure and health care services; and the current global prison population includes a significant number of individuals with poor physical and mental health, placing them “at risk” for infection, both in prison and in their home communities. Based on our review of the short-term impact of reforms on inmate and staff health, the size of the prison and jail population, and public safety, we recommend an aggressive three-pronged COVID-19-based corrections research agenda.

摘要

我们回顾了全球更正系统中COVID-19爆发的性质和程度，并记录了用于解决COVID-19问题的前端，监狱和后端缓解策略的类型，该策略在最大的50个国家中解决了监狱系统；这些国家收容着全球90％以上的监狱人口。对于大多数国家而言，报告的大流行第一阶段期间COVID-19感染和死亡的比率在监狱和监狱中高于一般社区，但是这些国家的社区矫正系统中暴发程度的基线数据相似不可用。我们发现：监狱扩建导致许多大型监狱系统中的监狱人满为患，使得监狱缓解战略难以实施；大型监狱系统的特点是监狱基础设施和保健服务不足；当前的全球监狱人口包括大量身心健康状况不佳的人，使他们在监狱和家中都面临感染的“风险”。根据我们对改革对囚犯和工作人员健康的短期影响，监狱和监狱人口的规模以及公共安全的回顾，我们建议基于COVID-19的三管齐下的矫正研究议程。