The recent call for sweeping institutional and policy changes has been heard by those in both the medical and public health communities. Structural racism can be loosely understood as the “privileges of whiteness” or the “disadvantages of color.” Although accurate, this oversimplified understanding does not convey the pervasiveness of racism in the very foundations of our societal, economic, judicial and health systems. Among the institutions and policies included in these systems, the disproportionate rates of imprisonment and violent police encounters for Blacks in the criminal justice system have been well-documented. These measures have been found to affect individual health through their associations with perinatal health outcomes, though they remain understudied.

The Center for Justice Research Health (with a focus on Black Maternal Health) and Criminal Justice Disparities research aims to provide a framework for providing evidence based solutions for the persistent racial and ethnic disparities in perinatal outcomes. Due to Black maternal health being a significant public health concern, currently the Center for Justice Research is working on a study examining the role of mass incarceration and residential segregation as drivers of Black-White disparities in risk of stillbirth.