Research FALLS SHORT
Study led by UC Nursing faculty finds lack of federal funding for incarceration-related research. By: Bill Bangert
Samantha Boch, PhD
The United States has the world’s highest incarceration rate, yet few federal funds have gone toward research on this topic, according to a study by University of Cincinnati researchers. UC Nursing Assistant Professor Samantha Boch, PhD, says the lack of investment in researching mass incarceration from a public health lens perpetuates poor health outcomes and racial and economic disparities.
Arrest
Using data from the Department of Justice, NIH and National Science Foundation, Boch and colleagues found that out of 3.2 million total projects funded since 1985, only 3,540 project awards, or 0.11%, related to “incarceration.” That pales in comparison to funded projects involving other systems, such as education and the military.
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“What’s funded at our federal level dictates what our evidence base is, dictates priorities, and this lack of federal focus on incarceration reflects, at best, a large oversight,” Boch says. Boch partnered with Aaron Murnan, PhD, also an assistant professor in the college, and Jordan “J.P.” Pollard, a psychology doctoral student, to complete the study, which was published in the journal JAMA Open Network. “We lead the world in incarceration, yet we’re not studying it from a public health lens or from a scientific research standpoint,” Boch says. “I think it relates to structural racism, the business of incarceration, a lack of awareness, a lack of training among health professions and even a
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