Black men are half as likely to die at any given time if they're in prison than if they aren't, suggests a new study of North Carolina inmates.
The black prisoners seemed to be especially protected against alcohol- and drug-related deaths, as well as lethal accidents and certain chronic diseases.
But that pattern didn't hold for white men, who on the whole were slightly more likely to die in prison than outside, according to findings published in Annals of Epidemiology.
Researchers say it's not the first time a study has found lower death rates among certain groups of inmates -- particularly disadvantaged people, who might get protection against violent injuries and murder.
"Ironically, prisons are often the only provider of medical care accessible by these underserved and vulnerable Americans," said Hung-En Sung of the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York.
I THINK THIS MEANS BLACK MEN OUT OF PRISON ARE MAKING A LOT OF VERY BAD CHOICES.
THEY USE TOO MUCH ALCOHOL AND DRUGS AND TOO OFTEN RESORT TO VIOLENCE TO SOLVE DISPUTES AND SETTLE PROBLEMS.
VERY FEW BLACK MEN ARE MURDERED BY WHITE MEN.
VERY FEW RICH WHITE CONSERVATIVE FOX-TV WATCHING REPUBLICANS ARE GOING INTO BLACK NEIGHBORHOODS TO ENCOURAGE THE MEN THERE TO BECOME VIOLENT DRUG-USING THUGS.
ER UM... NONE ARE.
BUT CONTEMPORARY BLACK CULTURE SEEMS NOW TO IMPLORE BAD BEHAVIOR - WHICH IS KILLING BLACK MEN BEFORE THEIR TIME.
IT DIDN'T USED TO, BUT IT DOES NOW.
IOW: IF THE BLACK COMMUNITY DOESN'T LIKE THESE STATS - AND I SURE DON'T - THEN THE BLACK COMMUNITY SHOULD LOOK IN THE MIRROR.
UPDATE: JIM HOFT LINKS AND ADDS THIS, (AS SANIEL P. MOYNIHAN PROVED 50 YEARS AGO):
THE DEMOCRAT/LIBERAL WELFARE STATE AND LBJ'S WAR ON POVERTY CONRIBUTED TO THE DOWNFALL OF THE BLACK FAMILY AND THE DISSOLUTION OF PRO-SOCIALI VALUES AMONG BLACKS.
MOYNIHAN'S BASIC POINT: THE BLACK FAMILY SURVIVED SLAVERY, JIM CROW, WW1, THE DEPRESSION, WW2, AND THE KOREAN WAR. IT DIDN'T SURVIVE THE WAR ON POVERTY.
2 comments:
My wife was a jailhouse therapist, and it was just known as a matter of fact by staff that drug offenders got clean and sober in jail or prison, got messed up when they got out, and through these iterations got older and smarter and finally stopped taking drugs...at least some.
Remember this when people talk about the futility of the war on drugs.
I thought it was the absence of firearms.
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