Incarcerated Parents: A Case Study

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

For over centuries, the only form of punishment and discouragement for humans is through the prison system. Because of this, these humans or inmates, are sentenced to spend a significant part of their life in a confined, small room. With that being said, the prison life can leave a remarkable toll on the inmates life in many different categories. The first and arguably most important comes in the form of mental health. Living in prison with have a great impact on the psychological part of your life. For example, The prison life is a very much different way of life than what us “normal” humans are accustomed to living in our society. Once that inmate takes their first step inside their new society, their whole mindset on how to live and communicate changes. The inmate’s psychological beliefs about what is right and wrong are in questioned as well as everything else they learned in the outside world. In a way, prison is a never ending mind game you are playing against yourself with no chance of wining. Other than the mental aspect of prison, family plays a very important role in an inmate’s sentence. Family can be the “make it or break it” deal for a lot of inmates. It is often said that “when a person gets sentenced to prison, the whole family serves the sentence.” Well, for many inmates that is the exact case. While that prisoner serves their time behind bars, their family is on the outside waiting in anticipation for their loved ones to be released. In a way, the families

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

Being the child of an incarcerated parent has substantial amounts of negative influences on youth today. As young children, many consider their parents as role models. Someone who they can confide in, someone who will preserve them, and someone who will guide them through life. For most youngsters having an incarcerated parent, means that their admirable example in life is absent. Not having a parent present in one's childhood leads to innumerable negative outcomes and impacts.

When someone is incarcerated it not only affects them but it takes a toll on their family. For example, men who are incarcerated and leave children behind. This affects the household and its finances. This is due to the fact that in some households men are the primary breadwinner. Children of women who are incarcerated sometimes end up homeless or in foster homes. This has a negative effect on the children because they lack the guidance and basic fundamentals a parent provides. Children who have a parent in jail are emotionally affected because there's no balance within their life, especially if their parent is always in an out of jail. Some kids start doing poorly in school, acting out and sometimes get involved in criminal

When these children’s parents are ripped out of their lives instantaneously without explanation or adequate care, it creates negative effects and occurrences that often go unresolved. Often times these children feel like they are the ones to blame, when in fact it has nothing to do with them at all. There were several instances of victims explaining that they are basically stereotyped as a result of their parent(s) becoming incarcerated—by police,

It might be difficult to understand how important your parents or even one of them can make a huge impact of how you would become as an adult. Right at this moment children all around the nation suffer from this problem, and statistics from the “Children And Families Of The Incarcerated Fact Sheet” demonstrate that it is much common from what we think. Demographics on this sheet show the difference between ethnicities and how much of this data is related to the

Incarceration, a topic of controversy, has received much attention in both academic and political arenas. Policy changes in recent years have influenced incarceration rates and, in turn, affected families and children in the U.S. (Hagan & Coleman, 2001; Visher & Travis, 2003; “Pew Charitable Trusts”, 2010; Arditti, Lamburt-Shute, & Joest, 2003). Policies, such as “tough on crime” and “war on drugs”, have contributed to not only a steady rise in incarceration rates and over crowding of correctional facilities, but also endorsed the disproportionate number of detainees from underrepresented ethnic populations (Hagan & Coleman, 2001; “Pew Charitable Trusts”, 2010). Hence, the vast majority of children who are affected by having an incarcerated parent are of underrepresented ethnic groups (“Bureau of Justice”, 2010).

The research question for this article would be in what ways do mothers cope with the separation of their children due to incarceration? Over the years the number of incarcerated mothers between the age of 25 and 34 has dramatically increased. These mothers are likely to be single, poor, a racial minority and have at least two kids. The study conducted interviewed 74 mothers before the trail and during incarceration to identity coping strategies that were used to deal with the separation of their child or children. The results from the interview and previous research studies showed seventh techniques used in how mothers would learn to cope with the separation. First, being a “good mother” using motherhood as a central identity to comfort their

There are more that 2 million men and women incarcerated in U.S. prisons and the majority of them are parents of children under the age of 18. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, parents in prison had approximately 2.6 million children at the time they were admitted to prison and of those children, approximately 1 million will reach the age of 18 at the time of the inmates expected release (Petit 2012). Previous research has shown that these children have been shown to underperform

Children with incarcerated parents have lived an uneasy life. Children have watched their parents get in trouble with the law and watch them be handcuffed and taken away for arrest. Children struggle physically, mentally and emotionally when a parent is displaced away from the home. Children have many emotions when they see their parent going away with a police officer. Children are taught today, the police officers are there to help you but also deal with people that get in trouble and when you parent is taken away from you, you are aware that something bad has happened. As learned throughout research many things become an issue in the behavior of a child.

There are over 2 million people held in prisons and jails in the United States. Based on 2012 data, about 637,000 people are released from state and federal prisons each year. Addiction treatment, employment, health care, and stable housing are among some of the most important needs that reentry programs must address prior to an incarcerated individual’s release back into society. However, working with an individual’s social support network will enhance these concerns and increase the probability of a successful reentry (Shanahan & Villalobos Agudelo, 2012, p.17). An incarcerated individual’s friends and family are able to assist returning prisoners with overcoming reentry impediments.

Literacy has been proven to be a crucial part of a child’s development, especially in early childhood when books and bedtime stories solidify the natural course of their growth (Boyd, Johnson, & Bee, 2015). As children are like sponges, being exposed to a broad vocabulary bank benefits them greatly when they start learning not only verbal and spoken communication but when they interact socially as well (Boyd, Johnson, & Bee, 2015). For children whose mothers are currently incarcerated, it can be difficult to maintain a decent level of exposure to literature. In addition, female inmates experienced significant distress from not having regular contacts with their children (McPhail, 2018). The Mother/Child Read Aloud program, based in New Brunswick and operated by the Elizabeth Fry Society of Saint

In today’s day in age there are many children that grow up with parents or one of their parents in jail or prison. 1 in every 28 children have grown up with parents in jail. Many children grow up without their parents because of crimes that they have committed. I would like to create a plan for the children that have to grow up with incarcerated parents. This program will help the parents but will also help the children. To qualify for this program the parent or parents will have to be on good behavior and should not have been convicted of multiple murders or any type of animal abuse. Also for the parents that will be a small fee of $100 to cover the cost of the day that is planned for the children and their parents.

Our client Tonya Morris is currently in foster care after her mom left her behind with an unwilling caregiver sixteen days after her father, Terence Calvert, was incarcerated. Tonya has been in the same foster family for nearly nineteen months and knows nothing outside of this family. Tonyas biological mother, Paula Morris, has a reputation of long time drug use and has been unable to locate since she left her. While Tonya was in utero she was exposed to drugs causing developmental delays and she went through drug withdrawal as an infant. Her foster family has expressed their desire to adopt her on more than one occasion. Her biological father, Terence, also has the desire to reunite and raise Tonya after he is released from incarceration.