Incarceration and Healthcare in the Santa Cruz County
Social Sciences
Sociology 195B
This project will study the ways in which care and punishment interface therapeutically at the three Santa Cruz County jails. This comparative study will chart the circulation of incarcerated individuals between the Water Street Main Jail and the Blaine Street Women’s Medium Facility, and Rountree Men’s Medium Facility respectively. Using qualitative methods, we will analyze the unique healthcare needs presented in each facility, the specific treatment methodologies characteristic of each, and the therapeutic outcomes for incarcerated individuals. This project contrasts both the scope of practice and standard of care among the incarcerated by for-profit companies. By identifying the services of practice and care in the three Santa Cruz County Jails, this research seeks to better understand what constitutes the right to good health among the incarcerated. This project aims to contribute to scholarship in sociology, criminal justice, and healthcare research about the intersectional factors affecting the delivery of medical care in the criminal justice system.
