The Prisoner's Wife: Incarcerated Parents

Children whose parents have been detained and imprisoned confront a variety of difficulties. The behavioral consequences can be severe, absent of decisive intervention, emotional withdrawal, failure in school, delinquency and risk of intergenerational incarceration. However, these children appear to become misplaced and unrecognized by the criminal justice system (Dallaire, Zeman, & Thrash, 2015). Even though a significant number of children are present at the time of their mother’s arrest, law enforcement usually does not ask upon arrest whether a woman offender has children nor do sentencing judiciaries or correctional agencies ever inquire about the matter. Since agencies do not gather information regarding the children, it is vague just how many children are affected when sentencing these women (Dallaire, Zeman, & Thrash, 2015).

Approximately 80% of incarcerated women are mothers (Mapson, 2013). On average, the adult female offender is between the ages of 25 and 29. Historically, incarcerated women live with their children prior to incarceration and are the sole financial support for those children. When a mother is incarcerated over 80% live with relatives (mostly maternal grandparents) and about 20% live in foster care. Due to mothers being placed far from populated centers, more than half of mothers will not see their children while they are imprisoned. Women rarely see their children due to the child being in foster care or with family members that do not have the financial resources to travel for visits.

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.

Joby Gardner, in an April 2010 study of incarcerated young men published in Youth and Society, stated that working – class Brown and Black young men face very difficult transitions, as they are overrepresented in the justice system, in poverty statistics, in foster care, special education; and, among victims of violence . In spite of the scarcity of documented research or other information concerning mothers of incarcerated children, perhaps the design for a plan of support for mothers should draw on information and research presented in examining the challenges mothers and children experience from the incarceration of mothers or fathers. Any design to support and meet the needs of a mother who is experiencing the incarceration of a child should definitely seek to meet the needs of not only the mother, but also the incarcerated child as well as the other siblings; and, the father if he is present.

Prisons were historically a male focused institution; correctional facilities often fail to address the needs of incarcerated women. The importance of a women’s prison institution is the way the mothering system needs to be done. Of the women in the correctional system, a majority of them are between the ages of 24 and 35(Staretschi & Vaughn, 2010). There are mothers in prison who have children with a family member, friend, or foster care. Other

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.

The youth in the United States are at a high risk due to parents being the number one highest rate of incarcerated people in the world. Incarceration of parents is a beneficial research topic because children and adolescents perceive going to prison is a pleasant place, but caregivers explain to children that bad people that do terrible things go to prison. Kids are under a tremendous pressure from the social stigma which makes them feel they will end up like their parents. This topic has keened an interest because children of incarcerated parents are going through a tough time when parents are absent from their lives and do not have people around to lean upon when they are facing problems that are internally or externally. I am trying to learn the effects, perception, knowledge, trauma, and emotion of children which face problems to facilitate a positive or negative outcome to having incarcerated parents. I want to help readers understand the reasons that children from minority families believe they will turn out to be criminals like their parents because society has deemed their minds to think internally and externally which caused major stress to their behaviors.

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

Kids with imprisoned parents face a lot of societal problems related to behavior, financial needs, standards of living and stigmatization among others. The problems that the children face are enough to influence their future behavior and well-being. It is important to address the issues since the group of children is very special and vulnerable. Helping them will ensure that they grow up to become good and supportive citizens in their adulthood. Studies reveal that incarceration of parents has serious problems on children and the community as a whole. This particular study concentrated on the effects that the incarceration of parents will have on children. This topic is very important for researchers and society since it will help the society to solve the increasing problems that have been caused by delinquency behavior. Some children have been forced to get involved in criminal behavior due to lack of parents. Increasing the interactions and contacts between the parents and their children will help the society to reduce or minimize the issues. Succinctly, the increasing number of incarcerated parents in the United States of America and other countries around the world have serious effects on children.

Diane and Edward Reed, who are both hold 20+ years in health policy analysis and technical assistance go on to state, “most law enforcement and child welfare agencies lack both awareness of the issues and the means to respond to children following the arrest and/or incarceration of their parents” (161). These agencies, along with the law enforcement officials, hold importance while dealing with these Children of Incarcerated Parents (CIPs), but they deal more from a business prospective. While on the other hand, the Big Brother Big Sister program is more of an emotional connection and that is something that most of these children lack and are in need of.

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).

I have chosen the vulnerable group of low income children affected by one or both parents’ incarcerated parents. Limitations for this group involve a break in the family structure starting with the absence of parent-child bonding. This establishes feelings of low self-esteem, low self-worth, and feeling unwanted. While limitations make this group seem weak and vulnerable, their vulnerability is actually strength. Vulnerability requires courage to be who we are despite our fears of not being accepted or liked. It requires that we ourselves accept the parts of ourselves that we don’t like or are ashamed of. It requires courage to talk about our failures. Case management helps to identify how people approach their goals, tasks and challenges

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.

Several studies have been done to show that males raised in single parent homes without a father are more subject to being incarcerated. The articles that were reviewed show that economic and absent- fathers are major contributors to males being incarcerated. Careful analyses of juvenile court cases in the United States, shows that economic conditions rather than family composition influenced children’s delinquency.(Juvenile Crime, Juvenile Justice (2001)) (Chilton and Markle, 1972).

Children whose parents are incarcerated constitute a growing population within the communities. An estimated two million children that have a parent who is currently incarcerated and that number does not include children whose parents have been previously incarcerated and released or those whose parents are under some