"The Place Where Danger Waits": Ten Years of Incarceration After the 1994 Crime Bill and Cognitive Function among Older Adults

Paris B Adkins-Jackson; Ariana N Gobaud; Boeun Kim; Tiffany N Ford; Tanisha G Hill-Jarrett; César Higgins Tejera; Michelle Ko; Zinzi D Bailey; Rachel R Hardeman; Alexander C Tsai; Gilbert Gee; Roland J Thorpe; Mudia Uzzi; Meies-Amor Blagburn Matz; Gabriella Solomon; Justina F Avila-Rieger; Daniel W Belsky; Ganesh M Babulal; Lisa Barnes; Jennifer J Manly; Sarah L Szanton; Sirry Alang

doi:10.1007/s11524-025-00975-y

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"The Place Where Danger Waits": Ten Years of Incarceration After the 1994 Crime Bill and Cognitive Function among Older Adults

Journal article

Peer reviewed

"The Place Where Danger Waits": Ten Years of Incarceration After the 1994 Crime Bill and Cognitive Function among Older Adults

Paris B Adkins-Jackson, Ariana N Gobaud, Boeun Kim, Tiffany N Ford, Tanisha G Hill-Jarrett, César Higgins Tejera, Michelle Ko, Zinzi D Bailey, Rachel R Hardeman, Alexander C Tsai, …

Journal of urban health, Vol.102(3), pp.726-735

06/2025

DOI: 10.1007/s11524-025-00975-y

PMCID: PMC12279660

PMID: 40310509

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Abstract

A likely determinant of cognitive function is incarceration. Structural racism directs adverse policing to differentially patrol groups racialized as Black increasing the chances of incarceration, leading to disproportionate representation in prisons. Direct and indirect exposure to incarceration produces chronic stress and trauma for adults racialized as Black. Due to the unique expansion of U.S. prisons after the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, we examined the association between the 10-year average racialized disparity in prison population for the decade succeeding the Crime Bill, 1995-2005, with the overall 14-year cognitive test performance for older adults racialized as Black living in the same county between 2006 and 2020. This observational study linked the average county-level racialized disparity in U.S. prisons to biannual cognitive performance interviews for mid-to-late life adults racialized as Black (> 50 years; N = 1784) from the Health and Retirement Study using baseline county of residence. Cognitive performance was assessed using a 27-item global cognitive score from the modified Telephone Interview for Cognitive Status administered in-person or online. Mixed-effects regressions estimated that greater incarceration of people racialized as Black in prisons was associated with lower overall cognitive test performance among participants racialized as Black (mean difference per 1000 more incarcerated people per 1000 population racialized as Black vs White = - 0.172, 95% CI = - 0.331, - 0.014). As artist Marvin Gaye sang in his song Flyin' High (in the Friendly Sky), "I go to the place where danger waits me," which describes how structural racism via incarceration disparities occurring in one's surroundings increases cognitive health for people racialized as Black irrespective of population size.

Structural racism

Cognitive aging

Incarceration

Details

Title: Subtitle: "The Place Where Danger Waits": Ten Years of Incarceration After the 1994 Crime Bill and Cognitive Function among Older Adults
Creators: Paris B Adkins-Jackson - Columbia University
Ariana N Gobaud - Columbia University
Boeun Kim - University of Iowa
Tiffany N Ford - Brookings Institution
Tanisha G Hill-Jarrett - University of California, San Francisco
César Higgins Tejera - Johns Hopkins University
Michelle Ko - University of California, Davis
Zinzi D Bailey - University of Minnesota
Rachel R Hardeman - University of Minnesota
Alexander C Tsai - Massachusetts General Hospital
Gilbert Gee - University of California, Los Angeles
Roland J Thorpe - Johns Hopkins University
Mudia Uzzi - Johns Hopkins University
Meies-Amor Blagburn Matz - Root2Roots (RSquared) Consulting, New York, NY, USA
Gabriella Solomon - Columbia University
Justina F Avila-Rieger - Columbia University
Daniel W Belsky - Columbia University
Ganesh M Babulal - Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine
Lisa Barnes - Rush University
Jennifer J Manly - Columbia University
Sarah L Szanton - Johns Hopkins University
Sirry Alang - University of Pittsburgh
Resource Type: Journal article
Publication Details: Journal of urban health, Vol.102(3), pp.726-735
DOI: 10.1007/s11524-025-00975-y
PMID: 40310509
PMCID: PMC12279660
NLM abbreviation: J Urban Health
ISSN: 1468-2869
eISSN: 1468-2869
Publisher: SPRINGER
Grant note: National Institute of Aging: K01AG081454-01, 2023, DP1AG069874-01S1, DP1AG069874, 3R01AG067592-01S1, T32AG078115, 2022-2027 Columbia University Alzheimer's Disease RCMAR: P30AG059303, 2022-23 Alzheimer's Association: AARGD-22-973213, 2023-26 National Institute on Drug Abuse: T32DA031099, 2022-2023, K24DA061696, 2024-25 National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities: U01MD014023, 2023-25 University of Michigan Rackham Merit Fellowship
Mr. Clarence W. Ford and all the participants contributed to the Health and Retirement Study. This work was supported by the National Institute of Aging (K01AG081454-01, 2023 (Adkins-Jackson); DP1AG069874-01S1, 2021 (Adkins-Jackson); DP1AG069874 (Szanton, Kim); 3R01AG067592-01S1 (Tejera); T32AG078115, 2022-2027 (Hill-Jarrett)); the Columbia University Alzheimer's Disease RCMAR (P30AG059303, 2022-23 (Adkins-Jackson)); the Alzheimer's Association (AARGD-22-973213, 2023-26 (Adkins-Jackson)); the National Institute on Drug Abuse (T32DA031099, 2022-2023 (Gobaud); K24DA061696, 2024-25(Tsai)); the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (U01MD014023, 2023-25 (Tsai)); and the University of Michigan Rackham Merit Fellowship (Tejera). Dr. Tsai reports receiving a financial honorarium from Elsevier, Inc. for his work as Co-Editor in Chief of the Elsevier-owned journal SSM-Mental Health. The other authors have no conflicts to report.
Language: English
Electronic publication date: 05/01/2025
Date published: 06/2025
Academic Unit: Nursing
Record Identifier: 9984816010102771

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