Literacy as Public Health: The Orichalcum Tower Review and Prison Education Equity

This poster examines literacy deprivation in U.S. carceral institutions as a form of structural violence and a measurable public health crisis. Drawing on Gramsci, Sweezy, and Foucault, the analysis argues that low literacy rates among incarcerated populations are actively reproduced through institutional mechanisms that restrict educational access rather than reflecting pre-incarceration disadvantage alone. NCES and RAND data are situated within a structural violence framework to demonstrate that literacy deprivation follows a direct and documentable causal pathway to poor health outcomes. Anecdotal evidence from a failed attempt to establish a literary feedback loop with incarcerated writers further illustrates institutional gatekeeping in practice. Implications are drawn for social work practice, policy, and research.