HEALTH DISPARITIES OF AFRICAN-AMERICANS IN A LIFE COURSE PERSPECTIVE IN COMBINATION WITH INCARCERATION

Abstract: Poverty it is said to have harsh outcomes on one's antisocial or even delinquent behavior. Other factors as well lead an individual to antisocial behavior those are the environment that they are living, and their genes that have passed from one generation to the other one. Parents, poverty, environment, genes and social determinants affect one's involvement in a crime and also affect the health in distinct ways. The focus of this essay is on the African American population within the American society and the health disparities that exist in this situation. We try to understand and answer if these health disparities were created after their birth, or pre-existed and were carried through the generations. One of the main issues is the examination of how much is the prison or incarceration in charge for these health disparities, or how much did these disparities previously exist, out of other reasons. These issues are put on a life-course perspective, and there is shown how much these morbidities affect one's life from the beginning till incarceration. A certain policy implication is made to eliminate those disparities by improving maternal, child and family health status.