There are many different social problem that causes stress in the family, such as, divorce, same sex marriage, and abuse/suicide. One such problem is incarcerated parents and the effects it has on children. In fact, as per the National Resource Center on Children and Families of the Incarcerated, at Rutgers University in Camden, no less than 2.7 million American kids and young people have no less than one parent in government or state jail (with all the more having parents and other relatives in nearby correctional facilities), and 33% of them will achieve age 18 while a parent is in the in prison (“Parents ' Incarceration”, n.d.). Offspring of incarcerated parents are effected negatively by their parent’s. They are forced to encounter hardships There are many different mechanisms and theories today to help children cope with the life they are handed. How incarceration affects individual level When a parent is incarcerated, they do not just give up their freedom. They also reject and forsake the children and family they have left behind. These children suffer in many different ways. According to the American Bar Foundation, Roughly, half of all confined people in the United States are parents. Offspring of imprisoned parents additionally exhibit trouble transitioning to fruitful grown-up lives, indicating high rates of unemployment, lower instructive accomplishment, and more serious danger of contribution of illegal crimes. Children who are involved in illegal actions are less likely to want to further their education. For example, General U.S. school graduation rate of 40% drops to around one to two percent among kids with detained mothers ("White House”, n.d.). Mothers pay a very important role in a child’s life. They are there to raise and strengthen a child out. As cited in Hueberner and Gustafson study, kids whose moms have been detained will be more likely to participate in the illegal crimes as grown-ups, as compared other children whose moms were not in I. (2012). Understanding Unique Effects of Parental Incarceration on Children: Challenges, Progress, and Recommendations, 74, 345. Dio:10.1111/j.1741-3737.2012.00957.x Lotze, G. M., Ravindran, N., & Myers, B. J. (2010). Moral emotions, emotion self-regulation callous-unemotional traits and problem behavior in children of incarcerated mothers. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 19, 702-713. Doi:10.1007/s10826-010-9358-7. Murray, J., Farrington, D. P., & Sekol, I. (2012). Children 's antisocial behavior, mental health, drug use, and educational performance after parental incarceration: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 138(2), 175-210. Parents ' Incarceration Takes Toll on Children, Studies Say. (n.d.). Retrieved April 06, 2016, from http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2015/02/25/parents-incarceration-takes-toll-on-children-studies.html Tip Sheet for Mentors: Supporting Children Who Have an Incarcerated Parent. (n.d.). Retrieved April 07, 2016, from http://www.youth.gov/youth-topics/children-of-incarcerated-parents/federal-tools-resources/tip-sheet-mentors White House Parental Incarceration Workshop. (n.d.). Retrieved April 06, 2016, from
Murray, J. (2005). The effects of imprisonment on families and children of prisoners Retrieved from http://www2.bgsu.edu/downloads/cas/file77089.pdf
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...
Travis, J., McBride, E. C., Solomon, A. L. (2005, June). Families left behind: the hidden cost of incarceration and reentry. Urban Institute Justice Policy Center. Retrieved November 19, 2013, http://www.urban.org and http://www.aecf.org
Can you imagine having your parents incarcerated? I can, when I was 10 years old my father was incarcerated and at age 23 my mother was incarcerated. Parental incarceration impacts you as a child or a teen in so many ways due to only one parent or grandparent being able to raise the child without the other. Parental incarceration is a very dramatic event in a child's lifespan. Having a parent incarcerated can have an impact on a child's mental health, social life and educational needs. 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,
In 2007 there were approximately 77,200 fathers and 65,600 mothers incarcerated in the United States (Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2007). As our society continues to grow, our jail and prison population are growing as well. When a parent or guardian is taken into custody the juvenile (child) is taken and released to a relative or child protective services. The children are either given to a close family member or a surrogate parent, meaning a foster home. This may have an emotional impact on the juvenile involved, which may lead them to committing delinquent acts. The children sometimes feel they are left to fend for themselves emotionally and the stress of these emotions are left upon the guardian at the time. These intense sufferings sometimes leave the juveniles in a harmful mental state resembling depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder and feelings of abandonment from their parents/guardians. Children with incarcerated parents are five times more likely than their peers to commit crimes (Texas Department of Criminal Justice, 2008).
The writer’s main goals was to persuade that mass incarceration is huge problem for the academics of children whose parents are incarcerated. Melinda D. Anderson wrote the article toward the criminal justice system and audience that are against mass incarceration. People who have families that are in jails and unintentional audience who read news regarding this issue. Several different people each day are facing problems regarding incarceration. They’re people who have their parents, brothers, sister in jail. The writer is trying to prove the point that having those people in jail is creating hardship for families and it needs to be stopped. The Students who have their parents in jail is causing them to lose not only their parents but also their life because of that fact without their parents, the children do not have a source of income, which leads to being not able to eat, study or perhaps live in safe
Easterling and Johnson. (2012). Understanding Unique Effects of Parental Incarceration on Children: Challenges, Progress, and Recommendations. Journal of Marriage and Family, 342-356.
Statistics have shown that one in every five children has seen their parent’s arrest. For young children, who were present at the incarceration have numerous short term effects. Children that are under the age of seven experienced nightmares and flashbacks from the event. At times the child is at school while their parent is being taken away. This causes them to come home to an empty house, and oblivious to the arrest. It is laborious for young children to grasp what is happening to their parent, that's why it’s crucial for parents to clarify the situation. Only about twenty percent of parents offered an explanation about the imprisonment. Supplying the children affected by the incarceration of a parent with authentic statements gives them an understanding of their new conditions. It also gives them guidance to manage the deprivation of the parent (Ross).
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.
Parental incarceration and its reoccurring effects on children, specifically in the system, is a rising issue with little research done and no current solution to halt the snowballing problem. According to Cynthia Seymour (1998), “current estimates indicate that as many as 1.5 million children have an incarcerated parent; many thousands of others have experienced the incarceration of a parent at some point in their lives”. A large portion of our country is effected by incarceration, especially children, yet nothing is being done to support these children and their families or caretakers.
Krisberg, B. A. & Temin, C. E. (2001). The plight of children whose parents are in prison. National Council on Crime Delinquency. Available:F:USERSEveryoneWEBSITE ARTICLESChildren of Incarcerated Parents Newsletter.wpd
...risberg, B. A. & Temin, C. E. (2001). The plight of children whose parents are in prison. National Council on Crime Delinquency. Available: F:USERSEveryoneWEBSITE ARTICLESChildren of Incarcerated Parents Newsletter.wpd
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
Merenstein, Beth, Ben Tyson, Brad Tilles, Aileen Keays, and Lyndsay Ruffiolo. "Issues Affecting the Efficacy of Programs for Children with Incarcerated Parents." Journal of Correctional Education. 62.3 (2011): 166-174. Web. 4 Mar. 2014.
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.