The Lasting Effects of Incarceration

What happens to people’s health behind bars, and how long does that trauma last? Lauren Brinkley‑Rubinstein wants to know

To the left prison bars and to the right a photo of a woman

The following is a summary of a story that originally appeared on the School of Medicine website.

As a sociology student interested in big social issues, Lauren Brinkley‑Rubinstein thought she might work in federal law enforcement. But after a disastrous FBI interview and time spent living in New York City, she started to change her mind.

“It became very clear to me the biases in the (criminal legal) system,” she said. That realization pushed her toward research instead of enforcement.

She took a role at the Vera Institute of Justice, a nonprofit focused on criminal justice reform. That work opened her eyes to the long-term health consequences of incarceration. She learned that time spent behind bars doesn’t just affect people in the moment, but it can have an impact on their physical and mental health years down the road. This insight became the foundation of her career.

Now an associate professor in Duke’s Department of Population Health Sciences, Brinkley-Rubinstein studies the traumatic conditions people face behind bars. Her research examines everything from flooded prison cells during climate disasters to the extreme isolation of solitary confinement. She asks a simple but powerful question: What happens to people’s health when they endure these conditions, and how long does that trauma last?

“If we could do more research that provided evidence that looked at what these long-term impacts were, we could impact policy,” said Brinkley-Rubinstein.

One of her major studies examined solitary confinement in North Carolina prisons. She found that nearly one-in-four incarcerated people spent at least two weeks in solitary confinement, and those who did were more than twice as likely to die in custody

Her work is influencing national policy debates. She’s been cited in amicus briefs before the Supreme Court and in state-level reform efforts. Ultimately, she believes the best solution is preventing incarceration by treating social and public health issues with community-based support instead of punishment.

To learn more, go to the School of Medicine website.