Marah A. Curtis, Ph.D.
Boston University
Junior Investigator, Vulnerable Populations
Project Title: The Effect of Incarceration on Fathers' Health
"Complex social problems like health disparities require multi-disciplinary, out-of-the-box thinking. The connections that RWJF fosters create the conditions for such potential."
Project Description
Curtis' study, entitled, "The Effect of Incarceration on Fathers' Health," will use the nationally representative Fragile Families and Child Well-Being longitudinal data to examine the impact of incarceration on fathers' health. Health, a vital component of family well-being, is often overlooked for low-income, urban fathers.
Labor market opportunities, parenting tasks and familial living are all impacted by the ability of both parents to function in their assigned roles. Fathers with poor health are more likely to have labor market difficulties, excessive expenses and may be forced to make trade-offs between medications and other goods. Research confirms that fathers who have been incarcerated face more barriers in terms of labor market opportunities and family formation.
The impact of incarceration on low-income, urban fathers' health is unexamined but may prove to be particularly important, especially considering that nearly 1.5 million people are behind bars in local jails, state and federal prisons. Incarceration rates vary markedly by race and ethnicity, with estimates for black men as high as 30 percent and 16 percent for Hispanic men.
Approximately 600,000 individuals are released from federal and state prisons each year, the majority of whom are male, black or Hispanic, poorly educated, non-violent offenders with a history of substance abuse. Incarceration is also clearly a family affair with more than half of inmates reporting they have at least one child younger than 18; in addition, 93 percent of these incarcerated parents are fathers.
Since incarceration rates disproportionately affect disadvantaged black and Hispanic men, many of whom are parents, the impact of incarceration on these fathers' health is an important and pressing question for low-income, urban families' well-being.
Biography
Marah A. Curtis, Ph.D, M.S.W., is an assistant professor at the Boston University School of Social Work, where she teaches U.S. Social Welfare policy. She joined the Boston University faculty in the fall of 2005 after completing postdoctoral studies at the Social Indicators Survey Center at Columbia University. Curtis received her Ph.D. in social policy, planning and policy analysis at Columbia University School of Social Work in 2004 and was both a Council on Social Work Education and Columbia University Public Policy Consortium Fellow.
Curtis' research interests focus on the effects of public policy on the well-being of children and families with particular emphasis on housing policy, incarceration and poverty. Curtis received a Peter Paul Career Development Professorship from Boston University in 2006 that is awarded to support the research of outstanding junior faculty.
