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Abstract
1 in every 25 children in the United States currently has a parent incarcerated in jail or prison. Black and Latinx children make up the majority of this population, as their parents are overrepresented in local jails and state and federal prisons. Parental incarceration affects a child’s behavior, emotional and mental health, social interaction, and financial stability. Daughters of incarcerated parents are particularly affected. This research investigates testimonios (testimonies), a narrative form of counter-storytelling, as a tool to address the traumatic effect of parental incarceration on female children of color. Testimonios give a person agency and allow them to share their unique and nuanced experiences in detail. In-depth interviews demonstrated that testimonios can be an effective healing tool for women who have been impacted by parental incarceration and can improve social service organizations directed towards families affected by incarceration. Testimonios provided space in which daughters of incarcerated parents were able to express their emotions and make sense of their experiences. The interviews also revealed shared themes in the experiences of multiple interviewees.
Highlights
Despite having 5% of the world’s population, the United States currently holds over 25% of the world’s incarcerated population, with 2.3 million people currently in jail or prison (American Civil Liberties Union [ACLU], 2020)
This research focuses on female system-impacted children, referred to as daughters, because previous literature has demonstrated that daughters experience higher instances of antisocial behavior, anger, impulsivity, low self-esteem, and delinquency than sons as a result of parental incarceration (Burgess-Proctor et al, 2016)
This research focuses on system-impacted daughters of color because Black and Latinx parents are disproportionately represented in state and federal prison populations
Summary
Despite having 5% of the world’s population, the United States currently holds over 25% of the world’s incarcerated population, with 2.3 million people currently in jail or prison (American Civil Liberties Union [ACLU], 2020). This paper focuses on the traumatic effects of parental incarceration on daughters of color and demonstrates how testimonios, a form of counter-storytelling, can be used as an effective healing tool. CRT is important for this research because most children who experience parental incarceration are people of color, creating an increase in future class and racial inequality through the negative consequences of mass incarceration on children (Wildeman & Western, 2010). Agency gives people the power to negotiate their needs and identify what they feel in spaces of inequality (Cushing & Lewis, 2009) This form of storytelling has been used in feminist research methodologies as a form of resistance, a tool for resilience building, and a source of hope in the midst of challenging systemic oppression (Huber & Cueva, 2012). Testimonios decolonize storytelling by giving a person agency to highlight power and oppression, and can be viewed as a genre within counter-storytelling (Medina, 2018.)
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