Incarceration Of Fathers Research Articles

Intergenerational transmission of incarceration among Black men and boys: A vicious cycle caused by structural racism

IntroductionThe widespread incarceration of Black men and boys in the US is a stark manifestation of structural and institutional racism, significantly impacting health and economic disparities within this community. While there is substantial research on the immediate effects of Black men's imprisonment, there remains a scarcity of longitudinal studies exploring the enduring impact of a father's incarceration on his children's health and well-being, particularly over decades. This study aims to explore the extensive intergenerational consequences of incarceration among Black fathers, focusing specifically on its impact on the educational achievements, likelihood of imprisonment, and mental health of their children 22 years later. MethodsWe analyzed data from the Future of Families and Child Wellbeing Study (FFCWS), formerly known as the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study. Our sample included a cohort of births where the fathers were Black. These children were followed over a period of 22 years to assess the long-term effects of their fathers' incarceration. ResultsOverall, 1264 families were followed in our analysis. From this number, outcomes were available for 689 sons 22 years later. Our findings indicate that incarceration was more prevalent among Black fathers who were younger and had lower educational attainment. Additionally, a father's incarceration was linked to lower educational levels and younger maternal age. Crucially, we found associations between a father's incarceration and mental health issues (such as anxiety and depression) in their children by the age of 22. ConclusionThe significantly higher risk of incarceration faced by Black men not only poses a direct health risk to themselves but also has profound intergenerational consequences for their children. The impacts extend across various domains, including the risk of incarceration, educational attainment, and mental health of their sons. These insights underscore the urgency for policy interventions aimed at dismantling the systemic barriers that perpetuate the cycle of incarceration and its long-lasting effects on the Black community.

Collateral Consequences: The Impact of Incarceration on African American Fathers and Their Sons

Throughout history, the role of African American fathers has been plagued by oppression and persecution. As predicted by Daniel Patrick Moynihan in "The Negro Family: The Case for National Action," centuries of mistreatment and racism would plague African American families for generations and deem them in a constant state of despair and dysfunction. Relentless rhetoric about African American families and the father's role has been significant in the systemic degradation of African American men. The systemic oppression of African American men has led to more than 1.1 million imprisoned in the United States, and approximately 500,000 are fathers. Many of these fathers inherited their father's incarceration, and their children continue to fuel the cycle. For decades researchers linked the effects of parental incarceration to adverse childhood outcomes, including increased likelihood of imprisonment, particularly for African American males. Therefore, this study explored the impact of incarceration on African American fathers and their sons. The data revealed four major themes: caregiving, stigma, paternal bonds, and reentry. The findings implied that specialized knowledge through a forensic social work lens might offer more comprehensive solutions by focusing on paternal relationships, long-term consequences of incarceration, and objective criteria that can assist with treatment outcomes.

‘Childhood in the shadow of prison bars’: How school counselors cope while counseling children of incarcerated parents

AbstractThis qualitative study examines how school counsellors perceive children aged 14–18 whose fathers are incarcerated. Three main themes emerged from the in‐depth, semi‐structured interviews: (1) The school counsellors perceived feelings of vulnerability, shame, anger and lack of trust amongst the adolescents. (2) The father's incarceration was a turning point in the lives of families and served as a catalyst for major economic decline, forcing the adolescents to fend for themselves. (3) The school counsellors often felt frustrated and unsuccessful in dealing with the complex issues these students faced. In addition, helping these adolescents affected their personal lives outside work.

Predictors of mothers' participation in a mother-only coparenting intervention conducted in fatherhood programs.

While fatherhood programs are increasingly implementing coparenting classes for mothers, very little is known about the circumstances that could increase or inhibit a mother's participation in joining such a class. The current study uses ecological systems theory to explore the microsystems, mesosystems, and macrosystems that relate to mothers' participation in a coparenting class. Pretest data from 277 fathers attending fatherhood programs are used to predict mothers' participation in a mother-only coparenting class.Fathers' perceived relationship quality, perceptions of the coparenting alliance, recent legal challenges, and residing in a rural/small-town community were significantly associated with whether the mother participated in the coparenting program.Fatherhood programs should address the issues that appear to deter mothers from participating in coparenting interventions, including high levels of couple conflict, recent father incarceration, and recent father trouble with the law.

Correlates of Incarceration of Fathers, Socioeconomic Influences, and Mental Illness

ABSTRACT The United States leads globally in incarceration. Incarceration can disrupt families in both immediate and long-term ways, including finances and mental illness. We examined the relationship between father incarceration during adolescence and the development of mental illness in adulthood as well as the relationship of household assets and debts in relation to the mental illness outcomes. Wave IV data of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health were used with a final analytic sample of 2129 participants. Data were analyzed using MANOVA in Stata 13.1. The findings indicated that biological father incarceration correlates with more adolescent mental illness. Enhanced model residuals were also significant for father incarceration, household assets, and household debts. Incarceration of biological fathers correlates with poorer mental health outcomes. Household assets and debts correlate with changes in adolescent outcomes as well, giving us more target areas for intervention development and testing. Clinically, assessing for adolescent experiences with father incarceration may be useful in supporting improved mental health over the life course. Policy work should give more attention to promotion of health and well-being of adolescents via reduction of the negative experience of fathers serving and/or having served time in prison. More discussion on family-level assets and debts is warranted to promote health and well-being for adolescents and adults.

The Impact of Parental Incarceration on Sport Participation Trajectories from Adolescence to Young Adulthood.

Given the potential negative effects of parental incarceration on millions of people, it is critical to examine the possible short- and long-term effects of parental incarceration on individuals. This study examines the effect of parental incarceration on the sports participation trajectories of children ranging from adolescence to young adulthood. Group-based trajectory models were set up using SAS analytics software to examine how parental incarceration affects the sports participation trajectories of children from adolescence to young adulthood. Data were drawn from the first four waves of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health in the United States (N = 6504). Neither paternal nor maternal incarceration had any significant effect on the trajectories of male participants. On the other hand, females who experienced father incarceration were more likely to be in the low-stable versus high-decreasing group (coefficient = −0.721, p < 0.05). Based on the results of this study, we conclude that programs promoting sports participation are needed for females who have experienced paternal incarceration. The results of this study also suggest that group-based trajectory modeling is a useful technique to examine the trajectories of sports participation from adolescence through to young adulthood.

Multisite randomized efficacy trial of educational materials for young children with incarcerated parents.

Although children with incarcerated parents exhibit more behavior problems, health concerns, and academic difficulties than their peers, few interventions or resources are available to support affected children. This randomized, controlled, multisite efficacy trial evaluated Sesame Street's "Little Children, Big Challenges: Incarceration" initiative with children aged 3 to 8 years with a jailed father. Seventy-one diverse children and their caregivers were randomized to an educational outreach group (n = 32) or wait list control group (n = 39). Researchers observed children during jail visits and interviewed caregivers by phone 2 and 4 weeks later. The effects of the intervention on children's behavior and emotions occurring during a jail visit depended on what children had been told about the father's incarceration. Children who were told honest, developmentally appropriate explanations showed less negative affect at entry, an increase in negative affect when the intervention was administered, and a decrease in negative affect during the visit. Intervention group children who were told distortions, nothing, or explanations that were not developmentally appropriate showed more negative affect initially, and their negative affect remained relatively stable during their time in the jail. In addition, children who were told the simple, honest truth about the parent's incarceration (a recommendation in the educational materials) exhibited more positive affect during the visit, with a medium effect size. Caregivers in the educational outreach group reported more positive change in how they talked to children about the incarceration over time compared to the control group.

A tale half told: State exclusionary and inclusionary regimes, incarceration of fathers, and the educational attainment of children

Paternal incarceration leads to educational disparities among children who are innocent of their fathers’ crimes. The scale and concentration of mass paternal incarceration thus harms millions of innocent American children. Current individuallevel analyses neglect the contribution of macro-level variation in responses of punitive state regimes to this social problem. We hypothesize that state as well as individual level investment in exclusionary paternal incarceration diminishes the educational attainment of children, although state inclusionary investment in welfare and education can offset some – and could potentially offset more - of this harm. Understanding intergenerational educational attainment therefore requires individual- and contextuallevel analyses. We use Hierarchical Generalized Linear Models to analyze the National Longitudinal Survey of Adolescent to Adult Health. Disparities in postsecondary educational outcomes are especially detrimental for children of incarcerated fathers located in state regimes with high levels of paternal incarceration and concentrated disadvantage. This has important implications for intergenerational occupational and status attainment.

A tale half told: State exclusionary and inclusionary regimes, incarceration of fathers, and the educational attainment of children

A tale half told: State exclusionary and inclusionary regimes, incarceration of fathers, and the educational attainment of children

Health Care Use and Health Behaviors Among Young Adults With History of Parental Incarceration.

To determine if longitudinal associations exist between parental incarceration (PI) and health care use or health behaviors among a national sample of young adults. We used the National Longitudinal Survey of Adolescent to Adult Health to examine associations between history of mother incarceration (MI) and father incarceration (FI), health care use, and 3 dimensions of health behaviors (eg, general health behaviors, substance use, and other risky behaviors) (N = 13 084). Multivariable logistic regression models accounted for individual, family, and geographic factors and generated adjusted odds ratios (aORs). Over 10% of the sample had a history of PI before the age of 18. History of MI and FI were both associated with forgone health care (aOR = 1.65 [95% confidence interval (CI), 1.20-2.27], aOR = 1.22 [95% CI, 1.02-1.47], respectively), prescription drug abuse (MI aOR = 1.61 [95% CI, 1.02-2.55], FI aOR = 1.46 [95% CI, 1.20-1.79]), and 10 or more lifetime sexual partners (MI aOR = 1.55 [95% CI, 1.08-2.22], FI aOR = 1.19 [95% CI, 1.01-1.41]). MI was associated with higher likelihood of emergency department use (aOR = 2.36 [95% CI, 1.51-3.68]), and FI was associated with illicit injection drug use (aOR = 2.54 [95% CI, 1.27-5.12]). The effects of incarceration extend beyond incarcerated individuals. PI histories are associated with lower health care use and unhealthy behaviors in young adulthood. By addressing barriers to health care and health-harming behaviors, health care providers and policy makers may reduce health disparities among this population.

The Impact of Parental Detention on the Psychological Wellbeing of Palestinian Children.

BackgroundSince 1967, the Palestinian Occupied Territories are marked by a political conflict between Palestinians and Israel. During this conflict, about one fifth of the Palestinian population has been detained; about one quarter of these are parents. Although we know that father’s incarceration might impact their children’s psychological wellbeing, little is known about the impact of father’s imprisonment on young children (under 11 years old), and when the incarceration is framed in contexts of political conflict. Therefore, this study aimed at gaining insight into the impact of parental detention on young children’s psychological wellbeing, and the impact of witnessing the detention process itself.MethodsBased on the list of imprisoned Palestinian men with children living in the West Bank, a group of 79 (3- to 10-years old) children was randomly composed. Above, through schools and health centers, a comparison sample of 99 children who didn’t experience imprisonment of a family member was selected. Mothers of these children completed two cross-culturally validated questionnaires on their children’s psychological wellbeing, the UCLA-PTSD-Index and the Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ).ResultsResults showed higher levels of PTSD and general mental health problems associated with father’s capturing. Above, when the children watched the arrest process of their fathers, scores still increased further. Younger children tended to show higher SDQ scores, and children living in villages reported higher posttraumatic stress scores compared to children living in urban areas or refugee camps. Little gender differences were found.ConclusionThis study shows the important impact of parental detention on the psychological wellbeing for young children and urges for more psychological care and support for family members – in particular children – of detainees.

Social and behavioral risk factors for obesity in early childhood.

Although multiple social and behavioral risk factors associated with obesity co-occur among young children, most studies have examined them separately. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between social risk factors, behavioral problems, health behaviors, and obesity among preschoolers in the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (N = 1589). A cumulative social risk score was created by summing maternal reports of intimate partner violence, food insecurity, housing insecurity, maternal depressive symptoms, maternal substance use, and father's incarceration, obtained when the child was 3 years old. Mothers reported on the child's internalizing and externalizing behaviors with the Child Behavior Checklist at age 5 years. Mothers also reported on hours the child spent watching television and sleeping as well as servings of soda or juice drinks the child consumed per day. Child height and weight were measured at age 5 years. Obesity was defined as body mass index ≥ 95th percentile. In regression analyses adjusted for health behaviors, behavioral problems, and sociodemographic factors, cumulative social risk was associated with obesity among girls. Externalizing behavioral problems were associated with obesity among girls (prevalence ratios [PRs], 1.5; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.2-1.7) and boys (PR, 1.3; 95% CI, 1.1-1.6). Short sleep duration was also associated with obesity among girls (PR, 1.2; 95% CI, 1.0-1.4) and boys (PR, 1.3; 95% CI, 1.1-1.5) even after adjusting for behavioral problems and social risk factors. Watching more than 2 hours of television per day was associated with obesity among boys (PR 1.5; 95% CI, 1.2 to 1.9) but not girls. Co-occurring social and behavioral risk factors are associated with obesity among 5-year-old children.

Father's Incarceration and Youth Delinquency and Depression: Examining Differences by Race and Ethnicity

This paper examines associations between biological father's incarceration and internalizing and externalizing outcomes of depression and serious delinquency, across White, Black, and Hispanic subsamples of youth in the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. Among respondents whose father was first incarcerated during childhood or adolescence, father's incarceration is found to be associated with increased depression and delinquency. On the whole, results indicate that associations between father's incarceration and depression and delinquency do not vary by race and ethnicity or gender. One exception is among Hispanic respondents, for whom having a biological father incarcerated is associated with an even higher propensity of delinquency than among White and Black respondents with incarcerated fathers.

Imprisoned Fathers and Their Family Relationships: A 40‐Year Review From a Multi‐Theory View

This article reviews the literature on family relationships of incarcerated fathers, examining the literature's topics, samples, and theories. Nineteen studies were identified that treated fatherhood as a primary construct, with 20 relating indirectly to fatherhood. Various theories were represented in the literature, yet with a general lack of studies theoretically building on one another. This article synthesizes the research and theoretical work, situating it in identity theory, family process theory, and ecological systems theory, thereby providing needed structure for advancing theoretical models. Situating the research thus provides a more comprehensive view of a father's incarceration and provides guidance to future research.

Children of the American Prison Generation: Student and School Spillover Effects of Incarcerating Mothers

Formal equality and judicial neutrality can lead to substantive inequality for women and children, with social costs that extend beyond individuals and families and spill over into the larger social settings in which they are located. We consider the uniquely damaging effects of an “equality with a vengeance” (Chesney-Lind &amp; Pollack 1995) that resulted from “tough on crime” policies and the 1980s federal and state sentencing guidelines that led to the incarceration of more women and mothers. We argue that legal equality norms of the kind embedded in the enforcement of sentencing guidelines can mask and punish differences in gendered role expectations. Paradoxically, although fathers are incarcerated in much greater numbers than are mothers, the effect threshold is lower and the scale of effect on educational outcomes tends to be greater for maternal incarceration. We demonstrate both student- and school-level effects of maternal incarceration: the damaging effects not only affect the children of imprisoned mothers but also spill over to children of nonincarcerated mothers in schools with elevated levels of maternal incarceration. We find a 15 percent reduction in college graduation rates in schools where as few as 10 percent of other students' mothers are incarcerated. The effects for imprisoned fathers are also notable, especially at the school level. Schools with higher father incarceration rates (25 percent) have college graduation rates as much as 50 percent lower than those of other schools. The effects of imprisoned mothers are particularly notable at the student level (i.e., with few children of imprisoned mothers graduating from college), while maternal imprisonment effects are found at both student and school levels across the three measured outcomes. We demonstrate these effects in a large, nationally representative longitudinal study of American children from the 1990s prison generation who were tracked into early adulthood.

Beyond Absenteeism: Father Incarceration and Child Development

High rates of incarceration among American men, coupled with high rates of fatherhood among men in prison, have motivated recent research on the effects of parental imprisonment on children's development. We use data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study to examine the relationship between paternal incarceration and developmental outcomes for approximately 3,000 urban children. We estimate cross-sectional and longitudinal regression models that control not only for fathers' basic demographic characteristics and a rich set of potential confounders, but also for several measures of pre-incarceration child development and family fixed effects. We find significant increases in aggressive behaviors and some evidence of increased attention problems among children whose fathers are incarcerated. The estimated effects of paternal incarceration are stronger than those of other forms of father absence, suggesting that children with incarcerated fathers may require specialized support from caretakers, teachers, and social service providers. The estimated effects are stronger for children who lived with their fathers prior to incarceration but are also significant for children of nonresident fathers, suggesting that incarceration places children at risk through family hardships including and beyond parent-child separation.

ASSOCIATIONS OF FATHERS' HISTORY OF INCARCERATION WITH SONS' DELINQUENCY AND ARREST AMONG BLACK, WHITE, AND HISPANIC MALES IN THE UNITED STATES*

Nearly 13 percent of young adult men report that their biological father has served time in jail or prison; yet surprisingly little research has examined how a father's incarceration is associated with delinquency and arrest in the contemporary United States. Using a national panel of Black, White, and Hispanic males, this study examines whether experiencing paternal incarceration is associated with increased delinquency in adolescence and young adulthood. We find a positive association with paternal incarceration that is robust to controls for several structural, familial, and adolescent characteristics. Relative to males not experiencing a father's incarceration, our results show that those experiencing a father's incarceration have an increased propensity for delinquency that persists into young adulthood. Using a national probability sample, we also find that a father's incarceration is highly and significantly associated with an increased risk of incurring an adult arrest before 25 years of age. These observed associations are similar across groups of Black, White, and Hispanic males. Taken as a whole, our findings suggest benefits from public policies that focus on male youth “at risk” as a result of having an incarcerated father.

The Effect of Paternal Incarceration on Early Child Behavioral Problems: A Racial Comparison

This study uses data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study to examine how the effect of a father's incarceration on the behavioral problems of preschool-age children differs by race/ethnicity. The model examines both internalizing behaviors as characterized by anxiety and depression as well as externalizing behaviors as characterized by aggression and violence. The study finds that paternal incarceration exacerbates externalizing behavioral problems in children regardless of gender and particularly for Blacks and Hispanics. The study finds no concrete evidence that paternal incarceration significantly influences internalizing behavioral problems in children.

Recurrent Nightmares, Aggressive Doll Play, Separation Anxiety and Witnessing Domestic Violence in a 9 Year Old Girl

Sarah is a 9 year old girl who was brought to her pediatrician with sleep difficulties and repetitive nightmares. Her mother reported that Sarah had problems falling asleep for several years with recurrent nightmares about her mother getting hurt. Sarah also had difficulties with separation from her mother and refused to sleep in her own bed. Sarah was described by her mother as "irritable with poor concentration," and easily startled. The mother denied any recent stressful events or changes in the home environment. The parents had been divorced for two years; there was a prior history of domestic violence. Sarah was otherwise in good health. Sarah's mother was in treatment for depression. Sarah's father had a history of alcohol abuse. In the pediatrician's office Sarah appeared irritable and clingy. While the pediatrician spoke with Sarah's mother, Sarah began playing with dolls, pretending that one was hitting the other repeatedly and then rushing the injured doll to the hospital. After Sarah appeared more comfortable, the pediatrician interviewed Sarah alone. Late in the interview, the pediatrician asked Sarah if she had ever seen anything that scared her. Sarah did not reply immediately. "Have you ever seen grownups be mean to each other and fight?" She replied, "My daddy hit my mommy and made her go to the hospital in an ambulance." Sarah's mother reported that Sarah had witnessed many episodes of domestic violence several years ago, including one fight that resulted in the mother's hospitalization and father's incarceration. The mother seemed surprised that Sarah could remember these episodes or found them traumatic since she had never spoken about them and no longer had any contact with her father. Sarah's mother asked the pediatrician if these episodes could relate to Sarah's current sleep difficulties and nightmares.

Incarceration and Intergenerational Social Exclusion

This article explores intergenerational implications, specifically the troubled transitions of the children of incarcerated fathers from adolescence to adulthood. Although crime rates have decreased annually since the early 1990s, the social exclusion of fathers through imprisonment has increased, as has the further exclusion of young adults through homelessness, health-care uninsuredness, and political nonparticipation. Our latent class analysis indicates that 15 percent of youth are socially excluded, an estimate similar to administrative estimates of severely "disconnected" youth. We combine the logic of a cumulative disadvantage theory and the status attainment paradigm with three waves of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) to examine the effects of father's imprisonment on the social detainment and exclusion of children during the transition to adulthood. Problems of socialization and strain associated with the incarceration and absence of biological fathers, as well as state sanctioning of youth from these disrupted families, are important aspects of the cumulative process of disadvantage that we identify in these data; however, the interconnected roles of father's incarceration and intergenerational educational detainment are pivotal in producing exclusionary outcomes for children in emerging adulthood. Although there is much evidence that the effects we examine are generic across gender, there is also more specific evidence that the absence of biological fathers from households associated with incarceration leaves daughters at special risk of abuse and neglect by nonbiological father figures and through homelessness during the transition to adulthood.