“[The mental health implications of witnessing violence while in prison include] things like increases in anxiety…difficulty sleeping…being hypervigilant, so being extra aware and tuned in to your surrounding…constantly being on edge. You see remnants of this with symptoms of PTSD or post-traumatic stress disorder…Think about…someone who is more frequently in that state of fight or flight…because your body is perceiving itself as in a stressful environment more often…that can have longer term physical health implications in addition to some of these mental health implications.”
– Meghan Novisky
This week Jose and Jenn speak with Professor Meghan Novisky about her work on experiences with secondary violence exposure in prison. We also briefly touch on the COVID-19 pandemic, incarcerated populations, and institutional responses.
Meghan is an Assistant Professor of Criminology at Cleveland State University. Her research investigates incarceration as a social determinant of health and how conditions of confinement structure health disparities. Meghan has published in journals such as Criminology, Justice Quarterly, Journal of Interpersonal Violence, and Victims & Offenders. In response to COVID-19, Meghan has written national and local op-eds about the health related implications of incarceration during a pandemic. She has also partnered with the ACLU of Ohio by drafting expert declarations to urge release or transfer of vulnerable incarcerated adults in Ohio’s prisons and jails. These declarations were cited in briefs before the Supreme Court of the United States, the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, and the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio. She won the Academic Consortium on Criminal Justice Health (ACCJH) Early Career Investigator Award in 2020.
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Episode Transcriptions Available Below for Download: Word (.docx) and PDF (.pdf)
Get in touch with Dr. Meghan Novisky:
Cleveland State University Website // m.novisky AT csuohio.edu // Personal Website // Twitter
This is the article authored by Dr. Meghan Novisky that was discussed in this episode of The Criminology Academy:
Novisky, Meghan A. and Robert L. Peralta. 2020. “Gladiator School: Returning Citizens’ Experiences with Secondary Violence Exposure in Prison.” Victims & Offenders.
To access the article, please click here.
Work on COVID-19 in Prisons by Dr. Meghan Novisky:
Novisky, Meghan A., Chelsey S. Narvey, and Daniel C. Semenza. 2020. “Institutional Responses to the COVID-19 Pandemic in American Prisons.” Victims & Offenders.
Race, Violence, and Medicine Podcast. “COVID-19, Healthcare Equity, and Criminal Justice Reform with Dr. Meghan Novisky” (Host Dr. Brian Williams). August 24, 2020.
Boppre, Bree and Meghan A. Novisky. “COVID-19 Doesn’t Have to Turn Prison Time into a Death Sentence.” Op-Ed for the Hill. July 9, 2020.
Novisky, Meghan A. and Bree Boppre. “The Public Health Threat in Ohio’s Prisons is Not Over.” Op-Ed for Cleveland Scene. July 8, 2020.
Novisky, Meghan A. and Chelsey Narvey. “COVID-19, Incarceration, and Our Public Health.” Op-ed for The Hill. March 19, 2020.