Statistically-speaking, a black man is better off behind bars if he wants to live longer, according to a new study out of The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

 

After examining the health records of African-Americans inside and outside of prison, researchers concluded that black inmates are half as likely to die at any given time if they are incarcerated than if they aren’t.

 

Why? For starters, prisons do a better job of shielding black men from exposure to alcohol and drugs. Also, they’re more likely to receive better health care within prison walls than outside of them. Death rates for diabetes, suicide and murder were also lower.

 

“Ironically, prisons are often the only provider of medical care accessible by these underserved and vulnerable Americans,” Hung-En Sung of the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York told Reuters. “Typically, prison-based care is more comprehensive than what inmates have received prior to their admission.”

 

The study says black inmates were between 30% and 40% less likely to die of heart disease and cancer than black non-prisoners.

 

The pattern did not hold true for white prisoners, who had a slightly higher death rate in prison, partially because of increased rates of infection, including HIV and hepatitis.

-Noel Brinkerhoff

 

Black Men Survive Longer in Prison Than Out: Study (by Genevra Pittman, Reuters)

All-Cause and Cause-Specific Mortality Among Black and White North Carolina State Prisoners, 1995–2005 (by David Rosen, David Wohl and Victor Schoenbach, Annals of Epidemiology) (abstract)