| dc.description.abstract | This study traces the history of punishment and prison healthcare in the United
States from public execution and torture in the town square to formal incarceration as
we know it now. Through exploration of the most recent scholarship and inmate
narratives, this thesis argues that although nominally the mode of punishment has
shifted from harming the body to reforming the soul, prison today still affects a physical
hold on the incarcerated body. In the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, this physical hold
on the incarcerated body manifests itself as an increased risk of contracting
communicable disease when comparing prison health metrics with those of the general
population. With the specific goal of exploring the how the design and administration of
prison healthcare delivery detriments the health of inmates, this study aims to illuminate
preventable patterns of excess morbidity and mortality from communicable diseases in
prison. | en_US |
