Essay on Effects of Parent's Incarceration on Children

The United States’ ever-expanding prison and jail population has brought about many questions regarding the side-effects of mass incarceration, namely involving the effects on the children and families from which those incarcerated are removed. Regardless of the perspectives on the appropriate position of incarceration in the criminal justice system, imprisonment disrupts many positive and nurturing relationships between parents and their children. In fact, more than 1.7 million children have a parent who is incarcerated in a state or federal prison as of 2007 (Glaze & Maruschak, 2008). These youths are at risk for developing behavior and school problems in addition to insecure attachment relationships. Parental incarceration, which may also be coupled with economic disadvantage and inconsistent living arrangements (Geller, Garfinkel, Cooper, & Mincy, 2009) can be an extremely difficult experience for children. It should come as no surprise that families with children suffer economic strain and instability when a parent is imprisoned, considering how each parent in today’s world typically needs to set aside time to earn an income to support their family, and most are unable to support their homes on one income. While it may be considered intrusive to some to intervene in the lives of children and families with incarcerated parents, research has suggested that there are positive societal benefits to intervening in the lives of incarcerated parents and their

In our society, a stigma is put on anything related to crime or incarceration. I don't a have direct relationship with incarceration and the pressure it puts on families, but I have witnessed the negative perspective and preconceptions that are set when talking about incarceration. As a society, we speak of the families or children that have been impacted by incarceration as if they are the ones that have committed the crime. I have been guilty of this prejudice as well. I've automatically assumed the that families impacted and children know the implication of their parent's or spouse's crime and should have the ability to cope with incarceration. However, I now realize that because of this stigma of incarceration, it often impacts those involved in their capacity to deal, to find resources to help with the financial stressors and their overall mental health. To better improve the over the health of the families, the state and the federal government have implemented resources and policies that can better help families understand their unique situation and the resources available to them. The research has to lead me to gain a perspective on incarceration and its impact, giving me a perspective and the resources to help families

Children are forced to forfeit their homes, their safety, their public and self-image, and their primary source of comfort and affection (Bernstein 2005). A national survey found that almost 70% of children when present when their parent was arrested (Bernstein 2005). Researcher Christina Jose Kamfner interviewed children who had witnessed their mother’s arrest and found that many suffered from post-traumatic stress symptoms; they could not concentrate or sleep and had flashbacks of the arrest (Bernstein 2005). The majority of the children at the scene of an arrest are taken away in a police car which is more intimidating than to say if they were taken away in a child welfare worker’s car (Bernstein 2005). Many of these children (is no other family is available) are shuffled around in the course of an arrest; the hospital for physical examinations first, then the police station for appropriate , “paperwork,” then to a juvenile detention center and lastly, they are deposited at a foster home (Bernstein 2005). Anyone can vouch that the process of what to do after the arrest is clearly a traumatizing one at that. After the arrest, children wait anxiously for the level of the sentence that their parent has to face. In most cases, children are unaware of why their parent is being sentenced because they were unaware that their parent was involved in the crime. Carl, for example, only remembered

The vast majority of these imprisoned parents expect to resume their parenting role and live with their children after release. Moreover, parents released from prison encounter difficulties finding housing, employment, and such services as childcare (Bloom, Barbara and Steinhart, 1993). This implies that the said difficulties, along with the challenge of childcare these newly released parents encounter upon re-entry, may limit their participation in the intervention programs catered for them (Hagan &Dinovitzer, 1999). Furthermore, children of ex-offenders often become confused, unhappy, and socially stigmatized. The frequent outcome is school-related difficulties, low self-esteem, aggressive behavior, and general emotional dysfunction. Seeing as the parent is a negative role model

Without a doubt, I am confident that this is one of the most important phases at child birth. Despite the fact that some may believe inmate women are not capable to bond with their child, this connection between infant and mother allows a trusting bond to be formed as it is a women’s natural instinct. Mary Beth J. Steinfeld, M.D a Pediatric Child Development and Behaviour professor states that for “child to enter healthy relationships with other people throughout life and to appropriately experience and express a full range of emotions” (UC Davis Medical care, 2017), bonding is essential. Clearly this attachment with the mother further assists the child in later life skills. Although, this opportunity is snatched away from imprisoned pregnant women within U.S prisons, as Emily Kaiser a U.S crime investigator proposes that “women have 24-hours with their newborn before “the separation” process begins” (CrimeFeed.com, Emily Kiser, 6.06.2015). This separation of mother and infant at birth is highly damageable to both the mother and child as new-borns can suffer stress from the absence of their mother as well as “potential effects on neurological development”, according to Dr. Amos Grunebaum (Baby Med.com, 2011). Mother’s also encounter a form of mental problems due to being separated from their child including of

The first key issue I will be discussing will be the contact the child has with the incarcerated parent. I will be looking at the emotional, social and behavioural effects this could have on the child and whether the child would be more likely to become an offender. Other problems children with incarcerated parents may have are behaviour problems, substance abuse, truancy and school failure (Murray, Farrington, Sekol & Olsen. 2009) I will be looking at the types of contact children have with their parents and the different advantages and disadvantages of each one. This key issue is crucial to children with parents in prison because even though their parent has broken

The rate of parental incarceration in the United States is rising at an alarming rate. Almost all children who have or had a parent incarcerated faces challenges. These challenges are caused by the trauma and inconsistency. The child's development can be affected and cause problems for the child in the future. To help these children out, there needs to be more help for them and even counseling for the remaining

I was taken aback when I discovered how many of the campers had an incarcerated mother, father, or both. Along with displaying aggressive behavior, most of the campers had difficulty bonding with their peers, caregivers, and camp counselors. In the fields of psychology and social work, these are textbook signs of insecure attachment. Much of my time as a camp counselor was spent working to foster acceptance and affection in children who often don’t receive any at home.

Furthermore, many critics argued that the nursery program focus more on the inmate rather than the child. However, that is not true according to reports. Marie-Celeste Condon explained how it is very important for a mother to bond with their child because this allows the baby to be able to trust that the world is a good place and taking the child away from their mother can actually do more harm than good (Stein, 2010). Studies showed that children who were able to be attached to their mothers at an early stage, were more likely to become more self-reliant and also have a higher self- esteem as toddler. This concluded that the child’s best interest would be with their mother even if that has to been in prison.

Children of incarcerated parents are arguably viewed as the biggest victims of their crimes. It is a simple fact that majority of women who are incarcerated are mothers. Because of this fact, many children grow up with limited, if any, access to their mothers. The children of incarcerated mothers are the ones who seem to suffer the most. It can be difficult for women to maintain a relationship with their children while incarcerated.

Even though Maori comprise only 14 percent of the general population, Maori are overrepresented in prison, making up of 50 percent of the prison population. This means that Maori children are more likely to have an imprisoned parent (Superu, 2015). Moreover, high rates of recidivism makes parental incarceration a chronic and reoccurring problem for both the parent and children, because nearly 40 percent of prisoners return to prison within two years after being release and 60 percent reoffended (Superu, 2015). Signs of intergenerational recidivism is especially high among Maori. In a study by Gordon & MacGibbon (2011), from sample of 217 Maori prisoners, half of the participants visited prison as children. Correlation between children with history of parental incarceration and them being imprisoned in

The poem illustrates that mentoring programs can be beneficial. On the other hand, after a child with an incarcerated parent has been made to deal with being separated from a parent, the last thing he/she needs is to be crushed by the termination of a relationship formed with a mentor. A parent-child relationship cannot be replaced or substituted for. Children with incarcerated parents not only need positive relationships, but they

Teen delinquency can also arise when a teen’s parent is incarcerated. Teens that have a parent in prison are affected emotionally, behaviorally and psychologically (Johnson 461). The incarceration of a parent can gravely affect an individual because the parent is not prevalent throughout the teen’s life. The teen then becomes angry and acts out because they have so much emotional pain bottled up inside. “The children of incarcerated parents are at a high risk for a number of negative behaviors that can lead to school failure, delinquency, and intergenerational incarceration” (Simmons 10). Teens with incarcerated parents lack the assistance of parental figures. In True Notebooks, Sister Janet says that the incarcerated teens never had anyone to lead them in the right path or show that adults care about them. She says that because of the lack of direction the teens never had the opportunity to do better for themselves (Salzman 26). There is also a major cycle that exists between incarcerated parents and their children that puts these teens at risk. On April 10th of 2008, a conference at Bryant University was held to discuss the concerning issues of teens with incarcerated parents. During the conference, Patricia Martinez, director of the Rhode Island Department of Children: Youth and families stated that “We want to break the cycle of intergenerational crime. I have heard of so many caseloads managing 18-year-olds who had a parent

Rosalyn D. Lee, PhD, MPH, MA, Xiangming Fang, PhD, and Feijun Luo, PhD conducted a research study on the impact of parental incarceration on the physical and mental health of young adults. The dependent variables were the self-reported health diagnoses and the independent variable was parental incarceration. The researchers based the study on 14,800 participants in grades 7 through 12. The population included those who had both parents incarcerated, neither parent incarcerated, mother only incarcerated and father only incarcerated (Lee, Fang and Luo, 2018).

Unfortunately such situations tend to affect the children the most. In fact, studies have shown that children with an incarcerated parent(s) will often suffer from depression, anxiety, feelings of abandonment, and sometimes even suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder. When the term post-traumatic stress