The Effects of Maternal Incarceration on Child Behavior
In the past, there have been many studies done on the effects of parental incarceration on child wellbeing. However, there has been much less study of the effects of maternal incarceration. Recent studies done on the wellbeing of children with incarcerated mothers have produced varying and conflicting results. Inconsistent results make it very difficult to generalize findings and to carry out effective interventions.
Defining the Problem: Maternal Incarceration
Women are being incarcerated at much higher rates, and child well being and future outcomes for those children are a growing concern (Luke, 2002). There has been an 839 percent increase in incarceration of women since 1997, two
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According to Farrington, Murray, and Sekol (2012), children are likely to experience stressful life events before and after parental incarceration. Following incarceration, children can experience problems like, but are not limited to, traumatic separation, reduced income, and loneliness (Farrington et. al. 2012). Farrington, Murray, and Sekol found that the circumstances under which children experience parental incarceration vary from child to child, but experiencing incarceration can lead to negative changes in antisocial behavior in children. Dallaire, Thrash, and Zeman, found that incarcerated specific experiences make children more prone to maladjustment than environmental experiences do (2015). Additionally, Borowski, Dallaire, and Zeman studied the effects of maternal incarceration in the context of a child’s socialization, examining emotion socialization of children with incarcerated mothers, finding that higher levels of incarceration-specific risk index predicted low emotional regulation in children (2016).
Conversely, Turney and Wildeman examined the effects of maternal incarceration on child behavior, finding that the effects of maternal incarceration were consistently null, suggesting the poor outcomes on child behavior are mostly linked to disadvantages the child experiences before maternal incarceration
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Some states require parents to terminate their parental rights when they are incarcerated, based on the length of their incarceration, so the child can be put with a new family permanently, severing all ties between mother and child (Luke, 2002). This situation can exacerbate the effects a child is already feeling during their mother’s incarceration. Luke recommends laws exclude jail or prison time from being a criterion for terminating a parent’s parental rights (2002). Luke also recommends parenting classes for incarcerated mothers during their incarceration (2002). Parenting classes can be useful for mothers to reintegrate themselves into the household an role as a mother following their incarceration. There is little research in the effectiveness of parenting class, studies only having been done in individual prisons, but all research points to the potential long term benefits of providing incarcerated mothers with parenting classes and resources
Women in Prison. Washington, D.C.: Bureau of Justice Statistics Varnam, Steve. Our prisons are a crime (reforming the prison system). Editorial. Christianity Today 21 June 1993
About one child in 50 in the United States currently has an incarcerated parent, but ensuing attachment disruptions for children depend substantially on the parent’s gender (Bretherton, 2011, p. 18). When fathers are imprisoned (by far the most common occurrence), 88% of the children continue to be cared for by their mothers (Bretherton, 2011, p. 18). Only 37% of fathers care for at least one of their children under these circumstances (Bretherton, 2011, p. 18).When mothers are incarcerated, children are most likely to live with a grandmother or aunt with whom they may or may not have a close relationship (Bretherton, 2011, p. 18). The majority of children whose mothers serve prison sentences not only face separation from the person most likely to be their principal attachment figure (Bretherton, 2011, p...
Although the actual number of pregnant women incarcerated in the United States is somewhat unclear, it is estimated that six to ten percent of the females sentenced to prison are pregnant when incarcerated. (Guerino et.al., 2011) The majority of female inmates that are sentenced to prison after felony convictions are s...
Studies show parental incarceration can be more traumatic to students than even a parent's death or divorce, and the damage it can cause to students' education, health, and social relationships puts them at higher risk of one day going to prison themselves.(Sparks,
When a person becomes a parent, their role in life undoubtedly changes. The person must become a teacher, a guide, and a helping hand in the life of the child. Research has shown that there is a distinct connection between how a child is raised and their overall developmental outcome. John Bowlby’s attachment theory emphasizes the importance of the regular and sustained contact between the parent-infant or parent-child relationship (Travis & Waul 2003). Yet, what happens when the only physical contact a child can share with their parent is a hand pressed on the shield of glass that separates the two? What happens when the last memory of their mother or father was from the corner of their own living room as they watched their parent become handcuffed? In 2007, there was an estimate of approximately 1.7 million children of incarcerated parents in the United States (Poehlmann, Dallaire, Loper & Shear 2010). Of those 1.7 million children, 58% of those children are under the age of 10, with the mean age being 8 (Travis & Waul 2003). The children of incarcerated parents are often moved from one family and one school to the next. The child must cope with this issue in home and in school, and may find it especially hard to cope with during school. Schools, however, can be a safe place for these children. This research explored the psychological effects of parent incarceration on the child, the school-based problems that occur as a result, and what educators can do to support children of incarcerated parents.
“Although nearly 90% of children remain with their mothers when fathers go to prison, grandparents usually care for children when mothers are incarcerated” (Johnson & Waldfogel, 2002; Snell, 1994 as cited in; Poehlmann). This shows that the family structure is more drastically upset when the mother is imprisoned versus the father. This also shows that just losing one parent while staying in the same environment is easier to self-adjust back into equilibrium than it is to fully change and integrate into another household. While the mother is in prison, the child is now in the care of someone else and where that child is, is crucial to their development. This explains that a disrupt in family structure can impact a child’s skills that are necessary to a positive development, such as reading and math skills and the ability to focus in class to learn. Emily Durkheim’s structural functionalism theory can be used to further explain this topic. A child’s family is an organism, no matter that typicality of it’s makeup. Every person has a role in the structure and when a mother is incarcerated that disrupts the system and the children are moved into a new structure, the process towards equilibrium can be tough and in some cases detrimental to their development as they are exposed to more intellectual
Parental incarceration can affect many aspects of a child’s life, including emotional and behavioral well-being, family stability and financial circumstances. The growing number of children with an incarcerated parent represents one of the most significant collateral consequences of the record prison population in the U.S. Children who have an incarcerated parent require support from local, state, and federal systems to serve their needs. Kids pay both the apparent and hidden costs while their loved one serves out sentences in jail or prison.
It is undeniable that mass incarceration devastates families, and disproportionately affects those which are poor. When examining the crimes that bring individuals into the prison system, it is clear that there is often a pre-existing pattern of hardship, addiction, or mental illness in offenders’ lives. The children of the incarcerated are then victimized by the removal of those who care for them and a system which plants more obstacles than imaginable on the path to responsible rehabilitation. Sometimes, those returned to the community are “worse off” after a period of confinement than when they entered. For county jails, the problem of cost and recidivism are exacerbated by budgetary constraints and various state mandates. Due to the inability of incarceration to satisfy long-term criminal justice objectives and the very high expenditures associated with the sanction, policy makers at various levels of government have sought to identify appropriate alternatives(Luna-Firebaugh, 2003, p.51-66).
The challenges of children who grow up with parents whom were incarcerated at some point in their childhood can have a major effect on their life. The incarceration of parents can at times begin to affect the child even at birth. Now with prison nurseries the impregnated mother can keep her baby during her time in jail. With the loss of their parent the child can begin to develop behavioral problems with being obedient, temper tantrums, and the loss of simple social skills. Never learning to live in a society they are deprived of a normal social life. “The enormous increase incarceration led to a parallel, but far less documented, increase in the proportion of children who grew up with a parent incarcerated during their childhood” (Johnson 2007). This means the consequences of the children of the incarcerated parents receive no attention from the media, or academic research. The academic research done in this paper is to strengthen the research already worked by many other people. The impact of the parent’s incarceration on these children can at times be both positive and negative. The incarceration of a parent can be the upshot to the change of child’s everyday life, behavioral problems, and depriving them a normal social life.
There is a plethora of data within the last 10-15 years that repeatedly show family, friends, and entire communities or neighborhoods being drastically affected by the consequences of mass incarceration as well. The data focus primarily on the effects on the partners, children, families, friends, and caregivers of those incarcerated; particularly the economic, emotional, and personal relationships between incarcerated individuals and those the data also
The research used for this study is from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, Child and Youth survey of 2010, which is current and relevant. It is also based on research conducted on the child instead of the parent. Current literature suggests that researchers move towards a child-centered perspective, as opposed to a parent-centered perspective. Focusing on the child, allows researchers to assess the impact of parental incarceration on the child (Phillips, 2010). The significance of this study is articulated by the authors as giving directions for more specific interventions based on school experiences based on how these children differ from their peers.
Over the past few decades, an increase in incarceration has occurred. During the 1990’s, America’s prison population increased by half as well as the number of children with a parent in prison. By 2002, 1 in 45 minor children had a parent in prison. This continuous increase has a tremendous effect on families, especially when children are involved, due to prisoners being separated from their loved ones. Incarcerated parents are forced to learn a new way of life, such as not being a part of their children’s lives, while their children must learn to live with an absent parent and accept an alternated support system that may remove them from the only environment that they know. Additionally, research has shown how families who suffer from incarceration
Incarceration not only affects the person being incarcerated but also directly affects the family. Most importantly, children suffer the consequences of maternal
The perpetuation of massive incarceration rates has had a significant economic impact on the low-income communities. Similarly, various analyzes suggested a correlation between high incarceration and low-income communities. Likewise, low-income communities face higher risks of crime, as well as, an increased danger of having a family member incarcerated (Harris and Kearney 2014). However, even within the low-income communities, there is a stratification of race. African American men, who lack a high school diploma, have a 50% chance of being incarcerated. The unfortunate reality is that approximately 2.7 million children have at least one parent who is incarcerated (Harris and Kearney 2014). As DeFina and Hannon (2013) suggest, the mass incarceration
The relationship between early child abuse and juvenile delinquency, as well as adult criminal behavior, has long been supported through psychological and criminological studies. It is important to recognize that though these studies show a correlation, there are many factors which contribute to delinquency and adult criminal behavior. Therefore, these studies merely show that child abuse may increase the risk for delinquency or other social problems but does not result in all abused children becoming delinquents. Through the examination of studies on child sexual abuse, physical abuse, and neglect and maltreatment it can be seen that children who have undergone these traumatizing experiences learn to cope in different ways which may result in social and criminal deviance. The type of abuse or neglect a child suffers may act as an indicator to the type of criminal act or unhealthy coping mechanisms used later on.