Meghan A. Novisky

• PhD - Sociology
• Associate Professor at Cleveland State University

The link between incarceration and health is of emerging empirical interest to criminological scholars. Yet, we still know little about the needs of the rising population of older prisoners and the health issues they face. By drawing on qualitative data gathered from 193 interviews with older men incarcerated across three U.S. prisons, I examine th...

Prison-based violence exposure is a critical area of study, yet the range of secondary (witnessed) violence experiences among incarcerated persons lacks comprehensive development in the literature. Drawing on qualitative data from 30 interviews with previously incarcerated men and women, we examine the extent of secondary violence exposure faced by...

The COVID-19 pandemic infiltrated the United States in early 2020, with correctional facilities becoming hot spots for the novel corona-virus shortly thereafter. Using data gathered from Departments of Corrections' official websites, we provide a summary of state and federal prison system responses to COVID-19 as of June 2020. We highlight strength...

Although research has established the disproportionate health burdens among incarcerated persons, the literature has yet to identify a theoretical framework for outlining the harms of incarceration associated with pandemics. We advance the literature theoretically by arguing two points. First, we assert that incarceration is a potent structural dri...

Correctional staff play a major role in the incarceration experience for millions of U.S. adults each year. While much research has addressed misconduct perpetrated by incarcerated persons, less has systematically addressed rule-violating behavior by correctional staff and how such conduct is perceived by formerly incarcerated individuals. Using qu...

Death anxiety is marked by worrisome thoughts and feelings surrounding death. It can influence health care workers’ performance and increase workforce attrition, yet no study has examined death anxiety among persons who provide peer care in the correctional system. Methods: Two small samples of peer caregivers working in two US prisons were surveye...

With the increasing number of older, frail, disabled and dying persons in US prisons and other Western nations, awareness of the need and value of high-quality peer care is growing. This paper provides a qualitative analysis of the perceptions and experiences of male and female peer carers in two US prisons regarding their roles. The data in this p...

Background This study investigated the association between previous incarceration and various geriatric and chronic health conditions among adults 50 and older in the United States. Methods Data came from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health – Parent Study (AHPS) collected in 2015-2017, including 2,007 individuals who part...

Objective This study aimed to investigate the cognitive functioning of formerly incarcerated older adults compared to their never-incarcerated counterparts, focusing on immediate and delayed verbal recall. Methods Data are from 2,003 respondents who participated in the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health – Parent Study (AHPS)...

Background The purpose of this study was to examine how the COVID-19 pandemic changed U.S. prison operations and influenced the daily work of prison staff. Methods In collaboration with the National Institute of Corrections, we administered a survey to 31 state correctional agencies in April 2021 and conducted five focus groups with 62 correctiona...

The COVID-19 pandemic impacted people across the globe but left particular risks and restrictions for incarcerated people. Lockdowns and the suspension of in-person visitation in U.S. facilities drastically changed everyday life for incarcerated people and their families. Families on the outside were left with less contact with their incarcerated l...

In this study, we draw on theories of opportunity and focal concerns to examine how mental illness and race correspond to correctional staff-involved violence, particularly within the transient and diverse context of jails. Using a sample of 3,936 people incarcerated in jails from the 2011 to 2012 National Inmate Survey (NIS-3), we analyze how an i...

Purpose Incarcerated people often have extensive health needs compared to their community-dwelling peers. This is especially the case among older adults, who represent a sizeable and growing portion of the U.S. prison population with a concomitant health burden. While research has expanded in recent years regarding health-related experiences among...

Distinct challenges exist in the delivery of medical services in correctional facilities, yet little is known about the sources of health information incarcerated patients rely upon to understand and manage their health. Using a nationally representative sample of U.S. incarcerated adults (N = 1,319) from the Programme for the International Assessm...

Purpose: The purpose of this paper aims to examine differences in measures of and relationships between visitation and quality of life (QOL) among older and younger jailed adults. The authors also explored the contribution of visitation to QOL among adults in this setting. The authors anticipated fewer visits and lower QOL among older adults. Fram...

Service learning is a well-established part of the sociology curriculum in many American universities and colleges. Less well known is student-led philanthropy (also known as experiential philanthropy), a form of service learning that encourages students to donate money to the community partners they are serving. Underwritten by national foundation...

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has presented the American criminal justice system with unprecedented challenges, including protecting the safety of incarcerated men and women. Given the ill-suited structure of correctional facilities to facilitate health and safety guidelines, one solution is decarceration. Yet decarceration has faced politica...

A large body of literature has examined the impact of staff behavior in correctional settings on offenders’ likelihood of recidivism. However, gaps remain with respect to how staff behavior is related to other indicators of post-release success, including an individual’s perception of success upon release. In this study, we examine how correctional...

The large and continued growth of the older adult population within United States (US) prisons affects not only criminal justice policy and correctional health practice, but also gerontology. Amidst the unfolding COVID-19 crisis, associated knowledge and skills surrounding older adulthood will be critical to assuring the needs of older adults incar...

In 1965, Glaser and Strauss (1965) offered the concept of “awareness contexts” to explain what patients in hospitals do or don't know about their death trajectories. Awareness ranges from closed (where patients are completely unaware and family and providers protect “the secret”) to open (where all parties communicate openly and honestly). While cl...

We know from the violence literature that a distinct sex disparity exists in the perpetration of other-directed violence (ODV). Some scholars suggest that this disparity is explained in part by gendered reactions to stress, strain, or violence victimization, in which males and females engage in different coping mechanisms, with males more likely to...

Drawing on data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health), we examine the association between incarceration and depressive symptoms among a sample of 13,131 young adults. We find that a history of incarceration is associated with a higher expected rate of depressive symptoms and that this relationship operates most stro...

We analyze how victim perceptions of mandatory arrest policies, perpetrator substance use, and presence of children are related to decisions to invoke law enforcement assistance. Logistic regression was used on survey responses from women receiving care in domestic violence shelters. Results suggest that as victim support for mandatory arrest incre...

The Crisis Intervention Teams model (CIT) was originally developed as an urban model for police officers responding to calls about persons experiencing a mental illness crisis. Literature suggests that there is reason to believe that there may be unique challenges to adapting this model in rural settings. This study attempts to better understand th...