Effects Of Parental Incarceration Research Articles

A life course perspective on parental incarceration and other forms of childhood adversity

Prior research on childhood adversity has revealed that exposure to multiple adverse childhood experiences (ACE) is relatively common, and that failure to consider these experiences in tandem may misattribute their effects to a single adversity. Yet attempts to isolate the effects of a given ACE are quite common, particularly in the burgeoning body of research on parental incarceration. Guided by recent theorizing in the parental incarceration effects tradition, and key insights from prior work on ACEs, the current investigation situated parental incarceration within broader contexts of childhood adversity. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health), we drew on person-centered analyses to consider associations between different constellations of risk, well-being, and other important life course considerations. Additionally, we centered the experience of parental incarceration to explore its prevalence across the different constellations identified and to examine its independent and interactive effects on problematic behavioral outcomes and successful adult transitions. Our findings revealed that 1) ACEs tend to cluster, 2) certain constellations may pose greater developmental risks, and 3) the effect of parental incarceration may depend, in part, on the unique set of ecological risks to which children are exposed.

Racial Disparities in the Relationship between Parental Incarceration and Childhood Obesity.

Despite a developing literature on the consequences of parental incarceration, its effects on childhood obesity are not evident. Our research project fills this knowledge gap by describing the relationship between parental incarceration and childhood obesity among children aged 3 to 15 and determining if and how this association differs across race. We use four consecutive waves of data on 3,302 children from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study. Our analysis finds little evidence that parental incarceration influences the probability of obesity among all children as a group. Moreover, our findings reveal critical racial disparities in the relationship between parental incarceration and childhood obesity. In particular, parental lifetime incarceration is not associated with risks of obesity for White or Hispanic children but is associated with a significantly decreased chance of obesity for Black children. This research effort can initiate an interdisciplinary conversation on the important intersection of family and corrections in order to alleviate the intergenerational erosion of physical health and well-being.

Financial strain, the transference of stigma, and residential instability: A qualitative analysis of the long‐term effects of parental incarceration

AbstractObjectiveThis study seeks to document the long‐term effects of parental incarceration on life course by interviewing adults who had a parent incarcerated when they were a child.BackgroundAn exponential increase in incarceration in the late 20th century has produced many adverse effects and increased social disadvantage for families and communities. From the life course perspective, parental incarceration is argued to be a detrimental experience in numerous ways.MethodsThis study utilizes (N = 31) in‐depth qualitative interviews with adult respondents in California who experienced parental incarceration at some point in their life. The study uses descriptive phenomenology to examine the effects of parental incarceration on life course.ResultsThe themes discussed in this study are financial and emotional strain, residential instability, and the transference of stigma. Financial strain and residential instability were associated with many negative effects for children of incarcerated parents. Participants recalled such experiences as consistently moving residencies, attending multiple schools, homelessness and inability to attend school, and lack of household resources. The transference of stigma occurred when a parent's record became a representation of a child's moral worth. Interviewees reported feeling or experiencing stigmatization, in social and professional settings, due to their parent's incarceration or criminal record.ConclusionThis study illuminates how the life course experience of parental incarceration can have significant long‐term impacts on children, potentially placing them at risk. Documenting the intergenerational impacts of mass incarceration on children and families is of societal importance.

The Testimonios of System-Impacted Daughters of Color on Healing from Parental Incarceration

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.

Child (Un)Awareness of Parental Incarceration as a Risk Factor: Evidence from South Korea

A large body of research has been devoted to the relationship between parental incarceration and adverse outcomes for children, but such studies often compare children of incarcerated parents to those whose parents have never been imprisoned. Research is lacking regarding the effects of parental incarceration on children aware of their parent’s imprisonment compared to those who are unaware of their parent’s incarceration. In the current study we use propensity score weighting with a sample of 219 incarcerated Korean parents to examine differences in developmental outcomes between children cognizant of their parent’s incarceration and those who are unaware of parental imprisonment. We found that, compared to a control group of children not aware of their parent’s imprisonment, children aware of their parent’s incarceration demonstrate decreases in educational attainment and increases in depressive symptoms, victimization, and criminal justice system involvement. We also reveal that maternal incarceration has a larger impact on children’s developmental consequences than paternal incarceration. We discuss implications from our research, which may inform how children of incarcerated parents are treated in schools and their communities, so they do not face the stigmatization that their parent faces. Additionally, we recommend that children receive more contact with their incarcerated parent as well as acknowledgement that awareness of a parent’s imprisonment may present as a risk for children regarding their education, depressive symptoms, victimization, and criminal justice system involvement in South Korea.

Caregivers’ Expectations, Reflected Appraisals, and Arrests among Adolescents Who Experienced Parental Incarceration

This research sought to identify a potential process by which intergenerational crime occurs, focusing on the effect of parental incarceration on adolescents’ subsequent arrests. We drew from Matsueda’s work on reflected appraisals as an explanatory mechanism for this effect. Thus, the present research examined whether caregivers’ and adolescents’ expectations for adolescents’ future incarceration sequentially mediated the effect of parental incarceration on adolescents’ actual arrest outcomes. Propensity score matching was used to examine this effect in a sample of 1,735 15- to 16-year-olds using NLSY97 data. Parental incarceration was positively related to caregivers’ expectations of adolescents’ future arrest. Moreover, caregivers’ expectations were strongly associated with adolescents’ expectations. Finally, the effect of parental incarceration on adolescents’ actual future arrest likelihood was partially mediated by caregivers’ and adolescents’ expectations for this outcome. This study revealed support for the proposition that the experience of parental incarceration may influence adolescents’ negative outcomes through reflected appraisals.

School-Based Resources as Protective Factors from the Influence of Parental Incarceration on Depressive Symptoms

Although research on the deleterious effects of parental incarceration is extensive, few studies have examined factors that may attenuate these consequences. This study uses data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health to examine the relationship between experiencing parental incarceration during childhood and depressive symptoms in young adulthood. Most importantly, it considers the degree to which this relationship is moderated by the availability of secondary-school-based resources. Results suggest that the consequences of parental incarceration on depressive symptoms are weaker for adolescents who attend schools that provide emotional counseling or nursing services on school premises or employ at least 50 percent of teachers with a master’s degree or higher. These findings suggest that the availability of school resources contributes to adolescents’ long-term resilience despite facing adverse circumstances.

The role of parental incarceration in predicting trajectories of child internalizing problems

On any given day, millions of U.S. children have at least one parent in jail or in prison. As the number of children facing this situation has increased considerably over the past several decades, interest has intensified regarding the impact of this experience on child adjustment. Although substantial research has focused on the link between parental incarceration and child externalizing behaviors, comparatively little research has examined the impact of parental incarceration on child internalizing problems across time. This leaves a critical gap in understanding child outcomes as a whole, as internalizing problems can have implications for psychopathology and other problematic issues not only across childhood but also across adulthood. To address this gap, the effects of parental incarceration on developmental trajectories of internalizing problems were examined while controlling for key individual, parental and family influences. Using four trajectory groups – Low-Stable, Preadolescent-Limited, Moderate-Increasing, and High-Decreasing – found in previous analyses of data from a longitudinal study of 655 youth, we fit unadjusted and adjusted multinomial logistic regression models. The models included all predictors of interest on the categorical outcome of the specific internalizing problem trajectory using the Low-Stable individuals as the reference group. Study results suggest that when controlling for other family risks, parental incarceration is not a significant risk factor for any of the trajectories in the development of internalizing problems. These findings provide evidence that parental incarceration may be a risk marker, rather than a unique risk factor, for internalizing problems among youth.

Post-traumatic Stress Disorder in Prisoners’ Offspring: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Background:Parental incarceration can produce serious effects on the offspring’s mental health. The presence of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in prisoners’ offspring is understudied and the few literature data showed heterogeneous evidence, with some studies suggesting that about 25% of prisoners’ offspring have PTSD and other reporting much lower prevalence rates around 2-3%. There is no systematic review and meta-analysis about PTSD in prisoners’ offspring.Objectives:The present systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to provide a first quantitative synthesis of the prevalence of the PTSD diagnosis in prisoners’ offspring. Moderator variables of the effect sizes were assessed, including offspring’s and parents’ gender, offspring’s generational cohort (children/adolescents versus adults), reasons for parental incarceration (political/war versus crime), and country type (Western versus Non-Western countries).Methods:A systematic review and a meta-analysis were conducted according to the PRISMA guidelines. Studies were included if they assessed the presence of a PTSD diagnosis in child, adolescent or adult offspring of prisoners through a diagnostic classification system, a clinician-administered interview or a self-report questionnaire, if they reported data necessary to calculate the effect sizes or the authors were available to provide them. Studies might have been based upon any design except review, single-case, case series, and case reports. Outcomes might have been measured at any time after parental incarceration. Parental imprisonment was defined as any kind of custodial confinement of a parent by the criminal justice system, including being held as a prisoner of war or for political reasons.Independent reviewers searched published/unpublished studies through electronic databases and additional sources and extracted the data. A random-effect meta-analysis was carried out by calculating the effect sizes as event rates. Heterogeneity was examined by the I2 and the Q statistics. Moderators were assessed through meta-regressions.Results:Six studies (2512 participants) were included. Fifteen percent of prisoners’ offspring had PTSD, as shown by a significant mean effect size of 0.14 without evidence of publication bias (95% CI: 0.081 – 0.249, p< 0.001). There were no significant differences on the mean effect sizes between the studies on adults and those on children/adolescents [Q(1) = 0.00, p = .999], between the studies on parents incarcerated for political/war reasons and those for crime [Q(1) = 0.00, p = .979], and between the studies conducted in Western and non-Western countries [Q(1) = 0.854, p = .355]. While offspring’s gender was not related to the effect sizes [β = -0.01, 95% CI: -0.02 – 0.02, p = .452], parents’ gender was significantly and positively associated with the effect sizes suggesting that in studies with higher percentages of incarcerated mothers, the prevalence of offspring’s PTSD was higher [β = 0.01, 95% CI: 0.0 – 0.01, p = .019].Conclusion:PTSD is a serious mental health condition among prisoners’ offspring, particularly when mothers are incarcerated. The present findings point out the importance of thorough assessment and timely intervention/prevention strategies implemented by professionals of mental health settings and detention systems. The cross-sectional design of the studies does not allow causal conclusions to be drawn about the effect of parental incarceration as a risk factor for PTSD. Other variables related to parental incarceration may explain these findings. This limitation points out the importance of further longitudinal research.

From the Inside Out: Effects of Parental Incarceration on Children

While incarceration rates have been increasing, conversations and knowledge on children with incarcerated parents have not. Children, like their parents, undergo challenges and serious adaptations when they lose their guardian to the criminal justice system. Studies done on children of incarcerated adults show the disproportionate impact on racialized and marginalized populations within Canada, as well as the economic consequences that follow. Due to various factors that unravel during these children’s lives, they face more social risks than many other individuals developing at the same time under separate circumstances.&#x0D;

The Child Left Behind: Parental Incarceration and Adult Human Capital in the United States

Exposure to parental incarceration is particularly prevalent in the United States, where about 7 percent of children have lived with a parent who was incarcerated. In this paper, I use nationally representative US data and apply partial identification methods to bound the likely effects of parental incarceration on education and labor market outcomes. Findings suggest that parental incarceration leads to substantially higher rates of high school dropout. Results provide some support for negative effects on likelihood of college degree attainment and employment in young adulthood. This work has important implications for criminal justice policy and social policies toward children.

Trauma-informed services for children with incarcerated parents

ABSTRACTChildren of incarcerated parents have often experienced not only the trauma of family separation, but also other forms of adverse events. Social workers can improve service delivery to this population by incorporating SAMHSA’s components of trauma-informed care (TIC). Translating TIC concepts into practice is an important but challenging goal for social work practitioners. The first half of this article reviews the literature about the effects of parental incarceration on attachment, stigma, physical and mental health, and intergenerational transmission of trauma. The latter half of the article applies principles of TIC by offering specific recommendations for conceptualizing cases through the lens of trauma and utilizing trauma-informed responses with these children.

Formerly Incarcerated Parents and Their Children.

The negative effects of incarceration on child well-being are often linked to the economic insecurity of formerly incarcerated parents. Researchers caution, however, that the effects of parental incarceration may be small in the presence of multiple-partner fertility and other family complexity. Despite these claims, few studies have directly observed either economic insecurity or the full extent of family complexity. We study parent-child relationships with a unique data set that includes detailed information about economic insecurity and family complexity among parents just released from prison. We find that stable private housing, more than income, is associated with close and regular contact between parents and children. Formerly incarcerated parents see their children less regularly in contexts of multiple-partner fertility and in the absence of supportive family relationships. Significant housing and family effects are estimated even after we control for drug use and crime, which are themselves negatively related to parental contact. The findings point to the constraints of material insecurity and the complexity of family relationships on the contact between formerly incarcerated parents and their children.

Developing a Child’s Right to Effective Contact with a Father in Prison—An Irish Perspective

ABSTRACTRecent years have witnessed a gradual increase in international research on the effects of parental incarceration on families and prisoners both in the short, medium and long term. However, the rights of children with a parent in prison is a subject which, in the Irish context at least, has been ill considered to date by policy and law makers. Research has shown that the consequences of failing to support this group of children can be adverse, not only for children concerned, but also for families and society more generally. Policy and practice development in supporting the child/parent relationship has primarily focused on mothers, with the consequential underplaying of the importance of the father/child relationship from the father’s point of view as well as that of the child. Between 2015 and 2016, a national qualitative study, the first of its kind conducted in the Republic of Ireland, aimed to explore professional perspectives of those working in the Irish prison system on the extent to which the rights of children with a parent in prison are recognised and protected during prison visits. A small number of family members were interviewed to give some insight into the experiences of children and families. Thus, the findings of this study as they relate to the child’s right to contact specifically will be presented and considered. This article adopts a children’s rights framework to consider the challenges involved in realising the rights of a child when their father is in prison. Furthermore, by benchmarking current Irish practices against international and regional standards as far as child/father visits are concerned, it seeks to provide a snapshot of the extent to which the rights of children with a parent in prison are protected in the Republic of Ireland.

Social Impact of Parental Imprisonment on Left behind Children: A Study of Dir Lower, Pakistan

This study assesses the anti-social behavior of left-behind children when their parents are convicted and put in prison. The researchers conducted a primary study and collected and analyzed data through quantitative methods. The study is conducted with the randomly selected households in Dir lower, Malakand Division. The relevant literature on the effects of parental incarceration over their left-behind children is also consulted to show the contribution of the study. The study argues that unattended children of imprisoned parents tend to show anti-social and disruptive behavior. Firstly, they do not socialize with others more often and remain to themselves. They do not abide by the approved norms of society (polite manners) since they feel neglected and left behind. Additionally, they showed rude behavior and would engage in frequent brawls in the neighborhoods. Furthermore, teasing and taunting others for their racial backgrounds or other dominant features of identity is another activity they found engaged int. The study recommends taking holistic measures for mainstreaming these children and engage them in positive activities so that they do not fall prey to criminal tendencies.

Process as Intergenerational Punishment: Are Children Casualties of Parental Court Experiences?

Ground-breaking work by Malcolm Feeley established that the experience of criminal court processing can feel like punishment to a defendant, separate and apart from the outcome of the criminal case. The purpose of this paper is to explore whether that effect extends beyond the offender to his or her family, particularly children, and whether this effect exists even before incarceration is imposed. There exists a significant body of literature that links parental incarceration to negative outcomes for children of prisoners (e.g., poor socialization, behavioral problems, poor school outcomes, etc.) Criminologists have also tied early childhood exposure to traumatic experiences (such as violence and deprivation) to later criminality. But neither of these literatures has specifically investigated the effect of criminal court processing of parents on their children, particularly when children witness court appearances or hearings. We interviewed prosecutors and active offenders in a major southeastern city to identify their perceptions of the short and long term effects of witnessing court processing on children of offenders. Our interviews suggest that such experiences could have deleterious effects similar to those observed in research on the effects of parental incarceration. We conclude by offering some policy suggestions for how the court system might mitigate these effects in the future.

The Effects of Parental Incarceration on the Criminal Activity of Adult Children

According to a 2007 report prepared for the Annie E. Casey Foundation, 55% of prisoners in state penitentiaries and 63% of prisoners in federal penitentiaries have children under the age of 18. Given this rather large population of children who have incarcerated parents, it would be worthwhile to determine if the criminal histories of parents have any effects on the likelihood that their adult children will also become involved in criminal activities. Using data from the 1997 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth and a logistic regression, it was found that the incarceration of either a mother or a father greatly increases the likelihood that an adult child will be arrested. In addition, men who are unemployed, smokers, single and not college-educated are more likely to be arrested than others. These results suggest that public policies that increase educational and employment opportunities and reduce parental incarcerations would reduce the arrest rate for young adults.

Parental Incarceration and Child Trauma Symptoms in Single Caregiver Homes

Parental incarceration is often an adverse childhood experience that has been characterized as an enduring trauma that involves ongoing and repeated stressors. In this study we focus on the role of parental incarceration in predicting child trauma symptomology as well as key mediating family processes such as visitation and children’s caregiving arrangement. We utilize a comparison group design of single caregiver and child dyads (N = 45) among similarly disadvantaged single caregiver families to first determine mean differences in child trauma symptomology. Findings revealed that both child and caregiver reports of child trauma symptomology were significantly higher in single caregiver families impacted by parental incarceration and these levels were in the clinical range (parent reports) or approached the clinical range (child reports). We then tested a mediational model examining family processes linked to child trauma symptomology. Parental incarceration was associated with more serious visitation problems (than other contexts of visitation to a nonresident parent) and children being raised by someone other than a biological parent. Parental incarceration also significantly predicted parent and child reports of child trauma symptoms. The effect of parental incarceration on parent reports of child trauma symptomology was fully mediated by the quality of children’s visitation suggesting the importance of developing interventions aimed at alleviating child distress during visits in correctional settings.

PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT IN THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF YOUTH THEFT, MARIJUANA USE, DEPRESSION, AND POOR ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE*

Explanations for the fact that crime tends to run in families have focused on the deprived social backgrounds of criminal parents, methods of child‐rearing, modeling processes, and genetic mechanisms. However, parental involvement in the criminal justice system itself also might contribute to the intergenerational transmission of crime and have other adverse effects on children's well‐being. We investigated the development of youth problem behavior in relation to parental arrest, conviction, and incarceration in the youngest and oldest samples of the Pittsburgh Youth Study, a longitudinal survey of 1,009 inner‐city boys. Parental arrest and conviction without incarceration did not predict the development of youth problem behavior. Parental incarceration was not associated with increases in marijuana use, depression, or poor academic performance. However, boys experiencing parental incarceration showed greater increases in theft compared with a control group matched on propensity scores. The association between parental incarceration and youth theft was stronger for White youth than for Black youth. Parenting and peer relations after parental incarceration explained about half of its effects on youth theft. Because the effects of parental incarceration were specific to youth theft, labeling and stigma processes might be particularly important for understanding the consequences of parental incarceration for children.

Parental Incarceration and Kinship Care: Caregiver Experiences, Child Well-Being, and Permanency Intentions

The number of children who reside with a relative because of parental incarceration has increased over the past two decades. Although these children are at risk for negative outcomes, some protective factors, such as a strong and nurturing caregiver experience, buffer the effect of parental incarceration. This study examined the experiences of 72 caregivers and 127 children to learn whether caregivers' stress and strain, readiness and capacity, perceptions of child well-being, and unmet service needs are associated with permanency intentions. The study found strong inclinations against adoption, high intentions toward guardianship, and strong associations between these permanency choices and caregivers' experiences and their reports of unmet service needs and makes recommendations for policy, practice, and research advocacy.