The Effects Of Parental Incarceration On Children Essay

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 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.

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.

However, inmates with children are perhaps the most affected by the pains of imprisonment as the separation and loss of contact to these children effect both the parents, children and all loved ones close by. According to a study done by Joseph Murray (2005) titled, The effects of imprisonment on families and children of prisoners, "imprisonment of a partner can be emotionally devastating and practically debilitating", causing a "loss of income, social isolation, difficulties of maintaining contact, deterioration in relationships, and extra burdens of childcare can compound a sense of loss and hopelessness for prisoners’ partners (para 7)”.

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

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

Some of the children become dependent on the government sustenance. Incarcerated women often find that their actions hurt their family “especially of women, destroys the family network. When the men got to prison, potential role models are lost. When women go to prison, families most often fall apart” (Hotelling) while in an institution they might never see their children. As statistics continuously provides that children lived with and cared for by their

Since mandatory sentencing began in the mid-1980s, the United States prison system has seen a dramatic upswing in incarceration rates (Glaze & Maruschak, 2008, p. 1). “The United States’ increasingly punitive sentencing philosophy has resulted in an overreliance on incarceration, resulting in an incarcerated population that has soared from approximately 340,000 in the early 1970s to nearly 2.3 million today” (Raeder, 2012). “Parents held in the nation’s prisons—52% of state inmates and 63% of federal inmates—reported having an estimated 1,706,600 minor children, accounting for 2.3% of the U.S. resident population under age 18” (Glaze & Maruschak, 2008, p. 1).

Children of incarcerated parents are a vulnerable group in August 2000 The Bureau of Justice Statistics analyzed a 1997 survey of inmates in State and Federal Corre ctional Facilities to examine parenting stats of prisoners. The survey showed that

While confined, fathers have little to no interactions with their families. Communication is limited to timed phone calls, mail, and timed visitations. For prisoners in relationships or who are married, the communication may decrease over time. McDowell (2007), as cited in (Day et. Al, 2005), sample of 51 male prisoners, more than half of them reported that little to no visits from their partners while incapacitated. As well, they reported that they barely spoke to their significant other and didn’t receive any mail. According to Rose & Clear (2003), a contributing factor in decreased contact among prisoners and significant others is due the inmate being transferred to another correctional facility. For prisoners’ children, Tasca (2015), examined the negative impacts of prison visitation among children of prisoners. In her study, she stated that two factors shaped children’s experiences during visitations: institutional environment and the parent-child relationship. By conducting interviews with mothers of children with an imprisoned parent, Tasca (2015), found that around 65% of the children reacted negatively to the visit often having emotional outbursts, acting out, crying, and having some poor attitudes. However, one-third of the children displayed positive attitudes displaying increased excitement to see their fathers, improve attitudes and increased

Studies have shown time and time again that when a parent is sentenced, the child and families are also the individuals who are being sentenced. When the unfortunate process of incarceration begins, the initial procedure of separation creates mental

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

One change in a family system experiencing incarceration that affects grandparents is the difficulty maintaining family ties with the incarcerated individual. Travis, McBride, and Solomon, (2005) state that factors such as the presence of security guards, the time it takes to visit inmates, difficulty of coordinating visits, and geographic location of the prison all hinder the ability for family members to maintain ties with the incarcerated family member (Travis, McBride, & Solomon, 2005). These particular challenges in visitation are difficult for family members, such as grandparents, to

In relation to the support the professionals could provide to families, the findings were consistent with those of Morgan et al (2012). The education professionals appeared to currently offer the most support to families and were able to identify multiple ways in which they have previously worked with both children and carers. These interventions have included one-to-one sessions with prisoner 's children, emotional support for caregivers, advocacy in professional meetings and referrals to other agencies. It was clear from the findings that the home school liaison officer had the most experience through working directly with five cases of parental imprisonment. This experience is presumably gained through being a frontline practitioner within a school as their role will be to support children and families with any issues they may be experiencing and work as a gate keeper to other services. Interestingly, the head teacher within the same school had only encountered one case of parental imprisonment. This limited involvement may stem from the demanding nature of the professionals role in managing all members of staff and policies. Potentially cases may have needed to reach a certain threshold to receive attention of the head teacher within the school. This finding has reaffirmed the importance of early help strategies and the important role professionals such as home school liaison officers can have in supporting families both