sherri13
04-01-2002, 12:28 AM
this is a section in a research paper that i wrote that deals with the effects of incarceration of a parent on children of different age groups
just FYI
Children of Incarcerated Parents
Nearly 1.5 million children have a mother or father in prison. At the end of 1999, 1,498,800 children under the age of 18 had a parent in prison in this country (Bureau of Justice, 1999). There are an estimated 10 million children in the United States who have at some point in their lives had one or both parents incarcerated. (Reed, 1997). The American Correctional Association in 1990 reported that 50% of incarcerated juveniles have had a parent who has been incarcerated. Despite these alarming statistics, children of prisoners and other offenders have historically received very little attention from professionals or the public. It is our responsibility to acknowledge these forgotten children and to do what we can to reduce the profound risk the experience of parental incarceration presents for not only these children, but for our society (Johnston, 1995).
Research
“The cycle of parental crime, arrest, incarceration, and recidivism is particularly devastating for children, but no study has as yet directly observed a large sample of these children” (Reed, 1997, p. 157). Official instruments to collect information during arrest and adjudication do not exist. All of such information is obtained from the potentially inaccurate self-reports of offenders, and it is not clear that offenders can be legally
required to provide researchers with information regarding their families, due to confidentiality issues. (Johnston, 1995).
Notwithstanding the limited research, the few studies that have been done have yielded disconcerting results. Researchers have documented a number of behavioral, psychological, and educational problems in children who are traumatized by the arrest, separation, incarceration, and absence of a parent.
Effects on Children
Studies focusing on parental imprisonment and the children’s reactions to parental incarceration consistently substantiate the following: Regardless of the age of the child when a parent is incarcerated, there can be profound effects on that child’s development due primarily to the factors of trauma and parent-child separation. The effects on children have been frequently compared to the experiences of children dealing with divorce, abandonment or the death of a parent. Children of prisoners often report depression, anger, concentration problems, fear, sleep difficulties, guilt and flashbacks, symptoms
associated with post-traumatic stress disorder. (Greene, 2000; Locy, 1999; Seymour, 1998; Young & Smith, 2000; Virginia Commission on Youth, 1993).
The Child Welfare League of America identified common reactions of children separated from their parents, which included rejection, loss of identity, anger and guilt. In addition many children develop increased fear of emotional closeness and trusting that may lead to impaired interpersonal relationships as adults.
When a parent is incarcerated during the first year of a child’s life, parent-child bonding may prove impossible. The development of autonomy and initiative in children aged two to six may be damaged by the trauma of witnessing parental arrest and the loss of a parent through incarceration. They are much more likely to experience “survivor guilt”. Unlike infants, these young children have the ability to perceive and remember traumatic events but unlike older children and adolescents, they do not have the developmental skills to process such experiences. In addition, these children are often discouraged from talking about these experiences and this “conspiracy of silence” may have a lasting effect (Kamfner, 1995).
In middle childhood, ages seven to ten, children who have a parent incarcerated suffer the loss of a primary role model at a critical period of their lives. Some children are resilient enough to recover, but others with poor coping skills and little support may respond with reactive behaviors including: aggression, hypervigilance and other anxiety states, attention/concentration problems, and withdrawal. The development of these children’s abilities to work and cooperate with others, including academic achievement and emotional control, may be significantly impaired (Johnston, 1995; Reed, 1997).
In early adolescence, ages eleven to fourteen, although some children can utilize their internal and external resources to overcome the absence of a parent due to incarceration, many develop maladaptive behaviors in an attempt to gain control, and increase achievement and peer acceptance. Some of these behaviors include lying, stealing, gang activity, violence, promiscuity and engaging in substance abuse. These are their adaptive responses to the threatening environments in which they have been raised. These young adolescents may also reject limits on their behavior (Johnston, 1995; Reed, 1997).
When options for using adaptive patterns of coping behaviors do not exist, as with younger adolescents, older adolescents ages 15-18 will utilize maladaptive coping mechanisms, the long-term outcome being delinquency or crime. When this occurs, it produces intergenerational crime and incarceration.
According to the model for intergenerational crime and incarceration developed by the Center for Children of Incarcerated Parents, children exposed to continuing trauma produce emotional responses that without intervention, lead to reactive behavior and become fixed patterns that help children to cope, ultimately leading to crime and incarceration (Reed, 1997).
just FYI
Children of Incarcerated Parents
Nearly 1.5 million children have a mother or father in prison. At the end of 1999, 1,498,800 children under the age of 18 had a parent in prison in this country (Bureau of Justice, 1999). There are an estimated 10 million children in the United States who have at some point in their lives had one or both parents incarcerated. (Reed, 1997). The American Correctional Association in 1990 reported that 50% of incarcerated juveniles have had a parent who has been incarcerated. Despite these alarming statistics, children of prisoners and other offenders have historically received very little attention from professionals or the public. It is our responsibility to acknowledge these forgotten children and to do what we can to reduce the profound risk the experience of parental incarceration presents for not only these children, but for our society (Johnston, 1995).
Research
“The cycle of parental crime, arrest, incarceration, and recidivism is particularly devastating for children, but no study has as yet directly observed a large sample of these children” (Reed, 1997, p. 157). Official instruments to collect information during arrest and adjudication do not exist. All of such information is obtained from the potentially inaccurate self-reports of offenders, and it is not clear that offenders can be legally
required to provide researchers with information regarding their families, due to confidentiality issues. (Johnston, 1995).
Notwithstanding the limited research, the few studies that have been done have yielded disconcerting results. Researchers have documented a number of behavioral, psychological, and educational problems in children who are traumatized by the arrest, separation, incarceration, and absence of a parent.
Effects on Children
Studies focusing on parental imprisonment and the children’s reactions to parental incarceration consistently substantiate the following: Regardless of the age of the child when a parent is incarcerated, there can be profound effects on that child’s development due primarily to the factors of trauma and parent-child separation. The effects on children have been frequently compared to the experiences of children dealing with divorce, abandonment or the death of a parent. Children of prisoners often report depression, anger, concentration problems, fear, sleep difficulties, guilt and flashbacks, symptoms
associated with post-traumatic stress disorder. (Greene, 2000; Locy, 1999; Seymour, 1998; Young & Smith, 2000; Virginia Commission on Youth, 1993).
The Child Welfare League of America identified common reactions of children separated from their parents, which included rejection, loss of identity, anger and guilt. In addition many children develop increased fear of emotional closeness and trusting that may lead to impaired interpersonal relationships as adults.
When a parent is incarcerated during the first year of a child’s life, parent-child bonding may prove impossible. The development of autonomy and initiative in children aged two to six may be damaged by the trauma of witnessing parental arrest and the loss of a parent through incarceration. They are much more likely to experience “survivor guilt”. Unlike infants, these young children have the ability to perceive and remember traumatic events but unlike older children and adolescents, they do not have the developmental skills to process such experiences. In addition, these children are often discouraged from talking about these experiences and this “conspiracy of silence” may have a lasting effect (Kamfner, 1995).
In middle childhood, ages seven to ten, children who have a parent incarcerated suffer the loss of a primary role model at a critical period of their lives. Some children are resilient enough to recover, but others with poor coping skills and little support may respond with reactive behaviors including: aggression, hypervigilance and other anxiety states, attention/concentration problems, and withdrawal. The development of these children’s abilities to work and cooperate with others, including academic achievement and emotional control, may be significantly impaired (Johnston, 1995; Reed, 1997).
In early adolescence, ages eleven to fourteen, although some children can utilize their internal and external resources to overcome the absence of a parent due to incarceration, many develop maladaptive behaviors in an attempt to gain control, and increase achievement and peer acceptance. Some of these behaviors include lying, stealing, gang activity, violence, promiscuity and engaging in substance abuse. These are their adaptive responses to the threatening environments in which they have been raised. These young adolescents may also reject limits on their behavior (Johnston, 1995; Reed, 1997).
When options for using adaptive patterns of coping behaviors do not exist, as with younger adolescents, older adolescents ages 15-18 will utilize maladaptive coping mechanisms, the long-term outcome being delinquency or crime. When this occurs, it produces intergenerational crime and incarceration.
According to the model for intergenerational crime and incarceration developed by the Center for Children of Incarcerated Parents, children exposed to continuing trauma produce emotional responses that without intervention, lead to reactive behavior and become fixed patterns that help children to cope, ultimately leading to crime and incarceration (Reed, 1997).