Incarcerated Parents Incarceration

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

Today prisons are overcrowded and over two million Americans, male, and female are sitting in jail or prison, and two thirds of those people incarcerated are parents (U.S. Department of Justice). Approximately two million of these children are separated from their mom or dad because of incarceration of which these are the custodial parent. These children suffer from poverty, inconsistency in caregivers, separation from siblings, reduced education, increased risk for substance abuse, alcoholism and incarceration themselves.

Mass incarceration has been an ongoing problem in America that became prevalent in the 1960s and still continues today. The reason this mass incarceration is such a crisis in our country is because it has been ripping apart the family and impacting all those involved. This epidemic affects those of every race, but more specifically, African Americans. Many researchers attribute this prison boom to police officers cracking down on crime, but only focusing on the inner city which is often times it is made up of a predominately black population. Because of this, America saw such a rise in the number of African American males in the system in at least some way; whether they were in prison, jail, or probation the numbers were astounding. When a father is removed from a home it impacts the family whether that is the wife, girlfriend, child or stepchild, it has proved to have some short and long term psychological affects on them. It is impossible to parent behind bars, so all the parenting is left up to the mother while the father is locked up. In addition, when a person goes to prison it leaves a mark on the inmate as well. Mass incarceration among African Americans is an ongoing problem impacting thousands of people, both directly and indirectly, and because of this, it is breaking apart the family structure and taking a psychological toll on the loved ones involved.

Many of these incarcerated men and women play various roles in their communities. They are parents, siblings, sons, and daughters and have family members who depend upon them for social and economic support. The incarceration of a parent has a particularly destabilizing role in a child’s life, oftentimes leaving the child in the care of a single parent, relative, or foster home (Levy-Pounds, 2006). Parental incarceration is considered an Adverse Childhood Experience (ACE), a designation for certain

Over the past forty years the increased of mass incarceration within the Federal Bureau of Prisons has increased more than 700 percent since the 1970’s, between the different type of ethnicity. Billions of dollars have spent to house offenders and to maintain their everyday life from rehabilitation programs, academic education, vocational training, substance abuse programs and medical care. The cost of incarceration climbs according to the level of security based on violent and non-violent crimes. Fewer staff is required in minimum and medium-security prisons that house low-level offenders. Incarceration is likely to serves as one indicator of other co-occurring risks and vulnerabilities that makes families particularly fragile. Mass incarceration is likely to increase if awareness is not implicated to reduce the rate of imprisonment and broken families to take back their communities and reclaim their hope for the future.

Since 1970 the rate of incarceration has more than tripled in the United States alone. In may urban cities such as Washington D.C., it has increased five fold. But statistics do not reveal what it is like for the children, wives, and parents of prisoners. It certainly does not show how the increasing numbers of inmates on the inside are having a profound effect on the outside--reaching deep into the family and community life of urban american families. Drawing on numerous powerful family structures supported by extensive empirical data, studies are shining a light on the darker side of a system that is failing the very people it is designed to protect.

When someone’s parent is put into prison, a new issue is added to the many that are already on that person’s plate. This is illustrated well when Goffman says, “we’re asking kids who live in the most disadvantaged neighborhoods, who have the least amount of family resources, who attend the country’s worst schools… were asking these kids to walk the thinnest possible line to basically never do anything wrong”(How we’re). The kids who are dealing with many issues are slowly being crushed by all the issues they go through with one being added each moment. They only do the things that they do to survive and the judicial system is not helping because it seems to target these kids. J. Mark Eddy, a licensed Psychologist, and Jean Mollenkamp Kjellstrand, from Columba University, states that “The incarceration of a parent is not often the start of the problems for a child and family, but rather a continuation… characterized by poverty, social disadvantage, unstable home life, substance abuse difficulties, mental health problems, abuse, trauma, and community violence” (552). This is just saying when kids are put through all these difficulties, they are more likely to fill that hurt with drugs, hurting someone or themselves, crimes, and even suicide. All these things can cause emotional trauma because it was already hard enough to live happy then now their parent went to jail and just made it even tougher. It just seems as if weights are slowly being added to them until they can’t resist to do something illegal. Neglecting the kids that have parents that are in prison will only cause them to replace their parents when the time comes. According to Richard J. Coley, the director of the Educational Testing Service Center for Research on Human Capital and Education, and Paul E. Barton, an education writer and consultant, children who have a parent who is

Researchers have begun to measure not only how incarceration influences parents, but the effects the consequences of parental incarceration on children. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, 1.5 million minors deal with parental incarceration every year (Harrison & Beck, 2010). In addition, as jail and prison residents continue to increase, the number of children affected by parental incarceration will also continue to increase. Therefore, researchers have taken a certain interest in studying the short and long term consequences of parental incarceration on children. Investigators show that children of incarcerated parents are up to ten times more likely to be incarcerated during their generation than children of non-incarcerated parents (Johnson, 2010).

They explain how incarceration affects the life course perspective for people who are influenced by it either directly or indirectly. The life perspective about which Western and Wildeman (2009) write is the life trajectory that most people have or want to have. It is what parents want for their children and usually consists of stages in which a person graduates from high school, goes to college, marries, buys a house, has a family and establishes a career. Incarceration interferes with this for the person who is imprisoned, but also for their children for several reasons, not the least of them is financial reasons. Not only are the chances of the child of an incarcerated parent going to college much lower than for children whose parents are not incarcerated, the chances of a child with an incarcerated parent being incarcerated him/herself is increased. Part of the reason for the increase is that the child most likely will not pursue a college degree. People without a college education are more likely to be imprisoned and among African American and Hispanic populations that number is even higher. For African American children, when their parent becomes incarcerated, it is almost as if a cycle begins and they also will be incarcerated themselves, and if nothing is done to break the cycle, their children will

In Dallaire’s (2007) study she states incarcerated mothers of adult children report that their adult children were 2.5 times more likely to be incarcerated than adult children of incarcerated fathers. This pattern is detrimental to society as prison because a family lifestyle, the prospect of having a generation not see the inside of a jail cell diminishes. This study also shows incarcerated mothers of minor children were significantly more likely than incarcerated fathers of minor children to report that their children were in nonfamilial care situations such as foster care or orphanages (Dallaire 2007). This is important to note for the rehabilitation of incarcerated mothers. Since, incarcerated fathers do not bear responsibility of taking care of their children like the mothers do, there needs to be programs in which the partners of incarcerated mothers can be helped to keep their children from entering the system.

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

Whether people like to admit it or not, society is still stuck on the stereotypical image that fathers are supposed to be caretakers for their families and mothers are supposed to be in charge of the care and well-being of their children, and this ideology has been transferred to how parental rights are granted within the United States Prison System. For example, single fathers that are incarcerated are more likely to have their parental rights curtailed, and they are not given the same services for reuniting with their children as incarcerated mothers (Patton, 1999). Although the struggles faced by mothers and fathers behind bars are different, they both have a large impact of the development of the affected

The growth of incarceration in the United States Prison grew over the last four decades. The trend is historically unprecedented and is unique to the world. The majority of those incarcerated come from disadvantaged populations and comprises of main minorities below the age of forty. The communities have the number of people engaging in crime, drug abuse, alcohol addiction, physical and mental illness and lack of employment. The African Americans and Hispanics form the largest prison population compared to the non-Hispanic whites. The high incarceration has the huge impact on the American society since its inception in the 1960s and 1970s. The changed political environment led to policy changes. All levels of the government altered

One very important criminological issue that I will be discussing throughout my research essay is, What factors contribute to the children of prison inmates ending up in a penitentiary prison.

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