Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32423391›Full record

ArticleBMC public health2020

Closing the (incarceration) gap: assessing the socio-economic and clinical indicators of indigenous males by lifetime incarceration status.

Stephane M Shepherd, Ben Spivak, Linda J Ashford, Isabel Williams, Justin Trounson, Yin Paradies

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in BMC public health, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Understanding the Social and Emotional Wellbeing factors protecting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people from justice system involvement.Psychiatry, psychology, and law : an interdisciplinary journal of the Australian and New Zealand Association of Psychiatry, Psychology and Law · 2026
    Article
  2. The relationship between justice system non-involvement and the social and emotional wellbeing of young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.Psychiatry, psychology, and law : an interdisciplinary journal of the Australian and New Zealand Association of Psychiatry, Psychology and Law · 2025
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Stephane M ShepherdCentre for Forensic Behavioural Science, Swinburne University of Technology, 1/582 Heidelberg Rd, Alphington, Victoria, Australia. sshepherd@swin.edu.au.
Ben SpivakCentre for Forensic Behavioural Science, Swinburne University of Technology, 1/582 Heidelberg Rd, Alphington, Victoria, Australia.
Linda J AshfordCentre for Forensic Behavioural Science, Swinburne University of Technology, 1/582 Heidelberg Rd, Alphington, Victoria, Australia.
Isabel WilliamsDepartment of Psychology, University of Warwick, University Rd, Coventry, UK.
Justin TrounsonCentre for Forensic Behavioural Science, Swinburne University of Technology, 1/582 Heidelberg Rd, Alphington, Victoria, Australia.
Yin ParadiesAlfred Deakin Research Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation, Deakin University, Burwood, Victoria, Australia.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundApproximately 1 in 5 to 1 in 6 Indigenous Australian males are currently imprisoned or have previously been imprisoned. Recent work has also pointed to a widening socio-economic gap within the Indigenous population. Given the myriad social, wellbeing and environmental risk factors associated with justice-involvement, it is conceivable that incarceration may contribute to the increasing disparities found within the Indigenous population. This study aimed to explore the presence and extent of an 'incarceration gap' within the Indigenous population and to uncover which social factors characterise the disparity.

methodsThe study utilised data from the 2014-5 National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Survey (NATSISS). A number of socio-economic, environmental and clinical factors were compared by life-time incarceration status. Chi-square tests were used to examine the association between incarceration status and each of the comparison variables.

resultsDisparities were observed within the Indigenous Australian population across a number of important health and socio-economic markers by incarceration status - the most pronounced being for educational obtainment - year 10 completion (Never incarcerated 73%, Ever incarcerated 50%), labour force participation (Never incarcerated 56%, Ever incarcerated 26%) and drug/alcohol problems (Never incarcerated 7%, Ever incarcerated 29%). Never-incarcerated Indigenous males yielded aggregate proportions across numerous variables that approximated or matched general Australian population estimates.

conclusionsThere appears to be evidence for a substantial 'incarceration gap' within the Indigenous Australian population.

Indexed as

Social Determinants of HealthAdultAustraliaHealth Status IndicatorsHumansLife Change EventsMaleMiddle AgedPrisonersSocial ClassSocioeconomic FactorsAboriginalClosing the gapIncarcerationIndigenous AustraliansRisk factors for offending

Identifiers

PMID32423391
PMCPMC7236374

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.