Improving the Health of Minority Communities through Probation-Public Health Collaborations: An Application of the Epidemiological Criminology Framework

This article explores the notion that common dynamic risks may underlie both criminal justice system involvement and poor health outcomes among members of minority groups in the U.S. We introduce the epidemiological criminology framework as a way of conceptualizing, researching, and intervening to reduce both health and criminal behaviors simultaneously among those on community supervision, or probation and parole. We use the lack of attention to community-supervised populations in previous research on sexually transmitted diseases as an illustration of lost opportunities. Suggestions for addressing these and other disease states and criminality simultaneously through the epidemiological criminology framework are provided.