Black Men's Death Rate Lower in Prison Than Outside It?

Fresh from the "SMDH" files, a new study says that African-American men survive longer in prison than on the outside.

What?

Researchers found that African-American men are half as likely to die if they are in prison because they are isolated from alcoholism and drug-related deaths, as well as lethal accidents and certain chronic diseases, according toReuters. White men, on the other hand, are slightly more likely to die in prison than outside it.

"For some populations, being in prison likely provides benefits in regards to access to health care and life expectancy," study author David Rosen, from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, said in the story, which cites findings published in the Annals of Epidemiology.

But he seemed to gather his senses later, adding in an email to Reuters, "It's important to remember that there are many possible negative consequences of imprisonment -- for example, broken relationships, loss of employment opportunities and greater entrenchment in criminal activity -- that are not reflected in our study findings but nevertheless have an important influence on prisoners' lives and their overall health."

You think?

The study observed about 100,000 men between ages 20 and 79 who were held in North Carolina prisons between 1995 and 2005. Sixty percent of those men were African American.

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