(PS14-58) The Trauma of Incarceration: Examining Racial And/or Ethnic Disparities Within the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions-iii (NESARC-III)

Despite decades of criminal justice reform, the US continues to disproportionately funnel Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) into a carceral environment fraught with confinement and violence. While research has increasingly explored interpersonal/structural traumas preceding justice involvement, incarceration as a discrete traumatic event (TE) has been overlooked. This study examined racial and/or ethnic differences in incarceration history and incarceration as a TE among a subset of previously incarcerated individuals in a large nationally representative sample of noninstitutionalized US adults.

Participants were 36309 adults (43.7% male, 52.9% identified as White). Participants endorsed whether they had been incarcerated in a jail or prison as an adult (18+ years old) or juvenile detention center (< 18 years old). Incarceration as a TE was examined on whether incarceration was listed as any of the 4 TEs assessed in the NESARC-III and whether incarceration was listed as the main TE. We used chi-square to examine demographic differences among those who did vs did not endorse incarceration as a TE within individuals from the 5 NESARC-III designated racial and/or ethnic groups.

Of the full sample, 4811 (13.3%) individuals endorsed an incarceration history, where 2460 (51.1%) were identified as White, 1322 (27.5%) as Black, 147 (3.1%) as American Indian/Alaska Native (AIAN), 65 (1.4%) as Asian/Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander (AANHPI), and 817 (17.0%) as Latine. Individuals who endorsed an incarceration history were more likely to be identified as Black or AIAN vs White, AANHPI, or Latine (χ²=371.16, p< .001). Of the 4811 subsample, most individuals from each group reported incarceration during adulthood only (white n=1699, 69.1%; Black n=897, 67.9%; AIAN n=91, 61.9%; AANHPI n=42, 64.6%; Latine n=538, 65.9%). There was a significant difference in self-reported total days incarcerated, with individuals identified as Black reporting the highest mean (M=453.6, SD=1034.2) followed by individuals identified as Latine (M=302.1, SD=841.9; F=13.33, p< .001). There was a similar pattern for self-reported days incarcerated during adulthood only (F=15.65, p< .001), whereas no significant difference in days incarcerated during childhood only. In examining incarceration as a TE, individuals identified as Black, AANHPI, or Latine were more likely to endorse incarceration as a TE than those identified as White or AIAN (χ²=21.27, p< .001). A similar pattern emerged when examining incarceration as the main TE (χ²=14.89, p=.005).

The results underscore the disproportionate negative impacts of incarceration on Black and Latine individuals, which include endorsing the highest rates of total days incarcerated and the greatest likelihood of endorsing incarceration as a primary TE. Future research should examine potential impacts of incarceration trauma in BIPOC communities, including the development of subsequent posttraumatic stress symptoms and recidivism. Collectively, these findings underlie the urgent need for rehabilitative rather than punitive measures, as well as increasing accessibility to restorative justice diversion programs that prioritize access to intersectional trauma-responsive care.