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When White Prisoners Don’t Want to Be Treated by a Black Clinician  


Author:  Margaret R. Moreland, JD, MSLS.


Source: Volume 21, Number 01, November/December 2019 , pp.1-1(1)




Correctional Health Care Report

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Abstract: 

This article reviews “Health Risks of Practicing Correctional Medicine,” by Dionne Hart, published in 21 AMA Journal of Ethics E540 (2019). Dr. Hart, who is Board certified in general psychiatry and addiction medicine, has extensive experience gained through her work in correctional facilities, state-operated hospitals, detoxification centers, and emergency treatment units. She uses the form of a personal narrative to illustrate her view that, despite “unique health risks to correctional workers,” it is also true that “correctional physicians have a unique opportunity to lead the profession.” In the group alliances formed in prisons, Hart sees “a visual flashback to the Civil Rights era.” Groups are segregated by race and then further divided by characteristics such as gang affiliation, white supremacy, identification as sex offender, and mental illness. Prisoners are not alone in experiencing feelings of isolation because, upon entering a correctional facility, the staff submits to being searched, having belongings scanned, surrendering mobile phones and “leav[ing] behind … almost all contact with the community.”

Keywords: Stress-Related Illness in Prison; Racial Intolerance

Affiliations:  1: Pace University Law School.

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