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Urban Investigations

Health Inside and Out

In the Summer of 2019, New York City’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene warned New Yorkers that contact with the legal system has lasting impact on people’s mental health and physical health. From police stops and searches, to having a relative or community member incarcerated, interactions with the system cause lasting harm. How does incarceration impact the mental and physical health of individuals and their communities? How is incarceration a public health issue?

During the winter of 2019, CUP collaborated with Teaching Artist Farideh Sakhaeifar and public high school students from Knowledge and Power Preparatory Academy International High School to unpack the public health impacts of prisons and jails on New Yorkers and their communities. To investigate, students surveyed members of their community, interviewed stakeholders working on the issue, and created art work that explored ideas of incarceration and liberation.

Students created this booklet to teach others what they learned about incarceration and mental and physical health.