Children, Families & Parental Incarceration

Context

  • International prison populations are rising (Flynn et al., 2015).
  • The majority of adults in prison are parents (Flynn et al., 2015; Hairston, 2002a, 2002b).
  • This includes fathers and an increasing number of mothers.
  • US estimate (National Research Council, 2014):
    • Over 50% of incarcerated adults are parents.
    • 3% of children have a parent who is or has been incarcerated.
  • Function of incarceration affects the rights of children.
  • In a New Zealand study by Gordon:
    • 87% of women prisoners have children.
    • 65% of male prisoners have children.
    • Approximately 20,000 children in New Zealand have had a parent in prison.

Impact of Parental Incarceration on Families

  • Primarily negative impact on families.
  • Impacts factors that sustain adult relationships, such as:
    • Intimacy
    • Ability to engage in activities together
  • Shift in family responsibilities to adjust for the absence of the family member, particularly for women who are often the primary caregivers. The responsibility often shifts to a female caregiver like an aunt or mother.
  • Financial losses:
    • Loss of income
    • Legal fees
    • Costs of maintaining the family member in prison, which increases pressure on the family unit outside.
  • Disruption to parent-child relationships.
  • Disruption to the parental role: providing emotional and social support to the child.
  • Distress at separation for those both inside and outside of prison.
  • Struggle to adjust/readjust post-release.
  • Stigma.
  • Older studies may not recognize diverse family types, focusing primarily on traditional mother + father families.

Impact on Adults - Caregivers

  • Challenges include deciding what to tell children about the incarceration.
  • Caregivers experience feelings of:
    • Separation
    • Loss
    • Guilt
    • Relief
    • Resentment
  • Mental health issues, such as depression.
  • Increased childcare responsibilities, balanced with other obligations like employment.
  • Financial pressure.
  • Interactions with new systems (e.g., school).
  • Coping with the child’s emotional and behavioral issues.
  • Specific issues when the incarcerated parent is on remand:
    • Grandparents may be primary caregivers.
    • Income benefits may be insufficient.
    • Navigating the school system.
    • Time constraints due to full-time jobs.
    • Caregivers may not be accessing needed support due to constraints or feeling unprepared for the impact on their lives and the children's lives.

Impact on Adults – Incarcerated Parents

  • Relationship impact depends on the level and quality of prior involvement.
  • Disruption to the parental role.
  • 20-60% report no contact with their children (Clopton & East, 2008).
  • Mothers are more likely to have had custody prior to incarceration than fathers.
  • Worries include:
    • Well-being of children.
    • Maintaining the relationship.
    • Reuniting upon release.
    • Being ‘replaced’ in the child’s life.
  • Lack of financial contribution from the incarcerated parent may have an impact.
  • In cases of child abuse or parental drug use, incarceration could have a positive effect, but this is not the norm.
  • Women often struggle more with mental health due to worry about their children.

Impact on Children

  • Primarily negative effects.
  • However, the impact depends on the level and quality of prior parental involvement.
  • Short- and long-term effects.
  • Change and instability.
  • Distress at separation.
  • Worry about:
    • How the family is coping.
    • Well-being of the incarcerated parent.
  • Mental health issues:
    • Anxiety
    • Depression
  • Changes in school and home environment, especially if the transition from court to remand is unplanned.

Children (continued)

  • Behavioral problems, including externalizing and persistent antisocial behaviors.
  • Gender differences in outcomes.
  • Impact of the parent's gender and ethnicity.
  • Differences between paternal vs. maternal incarceration.
  • Potential for low school achievement and employment prospects.
  • If the father is incarcerated, boys may experience more problems; if the mother is incarcerated, both boys and girls may face difficulties.
  • Cambridge study: Parental incarceration in the first 10 years of a child's life predicted antisocial outcomes throughout the life course.
  • Mixed evidence on the effect on school grades; some studies show an effect, while others do not.
  • Telling schools and peers about parental incarceration can have varying effects depending on whether the environment is supportive or stigmatizing.
  • Uncertainty exists whether behavioral problems occur before incarceration or are magnified by it.

Barriers to Visitations

  • Financial barriers.
  • Transportation difficulties and prison location.
  • Dependence on others for transportation and support.
  • Rules and regulations.
  • Visit logistics: processing, waiting, staff treatment, lockdowns.
  • Repeated separations.
  • The prison environment itself.
    1. Higher levels of mental and physical health issues in prison.
    2. Exposure to pro-criminal attitudes.
    3. Potential exposure to violence during visits.
    4. The environment is often not child-centered or child-friendly, particularly the processing procedures.
    5. Financial stress may lead to prioritizing other needs over prison visits.
  • Caregivers may have issues with the incarcerated person or lack motivation to facilitate visits.
  • Prison rules and regulations may be difficult to understand or access; for example, requirements for documents like a child’s birth certificate may not be clearly communicated, or rules may change without notice.

Other Reasons Visits Don’t Occur

  • Incarcerated parents avoiding visits due to:
    • Concern for their children.
    • Desire to protect children from the prison environment.
    • Belief that prison is an unsuitable environment for children.
    • Inability to contact children.
    • Avoiding negative feelings.
    • Coping with pressure.
    • Avoiding finding out about what’s going on ‘outside.’
  • Children not wanting to visit.
  • Children not knowing the parent is in prison.
  • External agency policies, such as those related to child sex offenses.
  • Aim to not normalize prison environments for children.
  • Desire to avoid feeling separation.

Visitations

*Effects on Children

  • Short-term negative effects, such as excitable or hyperactive behavior before, during, and at the end of the visit day.
  • Reduce negative feelings associated with separation; reassure the child about the well-being of the parent in prison.
  • Maintain attachment and relationships.
  • Assist with reunification upon release.

Effects on Prisoners

  • Promotes positive mental health.
  • Supports family relationships.
  • In-prison conduct is complex:
    • No impact
    • Modest improvements
    • Negative impacts: dependent on the timing of misconduct; misconduct may increase if visits don’t continue.
  • Visits improve mood, reduce isolation, support family relationships, and maintain parental roles and responsibilities.
  • Complex relationship within prison conduct: depends on who is visiting and their history with offending; better if it is a spouse than someone else.
  • Behavior is often better leading up to visits but may struggle to adjust after seeing children.
  • Higher frequency of visits leads to better settling of behavior after visits occur.

Mother-Baby Units

  • Allow young children to stay with their mothers in prison.
  • Recognize the importance of attachment.
  • Address concerns about separation's impact on children.
  • Raise questions about the suitability of the prison environment for child development.
  • Not typically offered to fathers.
  • Time spent with babies varies between jurisdictions, as does the age range of babies allowed in these units.

General Benefits of Visits

  • Alleviate some of the negative effects of separation caused by incarceration.
  • Support communication and relationships.
  • Allow inclusion in family activities and rituals.
  • Associated with reductions in all forms of recidivism.
  • Reduce intergenerational transmission of delinquency.
  • Assist with re-entry into the community by maintaining relationships with partners and children.
  • Ensure children and the incarcerated parent feel cared for and loved.

Policy and Practical Implications

  • UNCRC (United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child) applies in New Zealand.
    • Children have rights to reach their potential and have their rights protected.

Policy & Practical Implications

  • Variations in policies and rules.
  • Communication challenges.
  • Corrections/justice policies have implications for families.
  • Need to consider families and children in policy making.
  • Support visits and other contact.
  • Reduce barriers and maximize the quality of interactions.
  • Improve the environment.
  • Address policies, rules, and regulations:
    • Can children see a parent not named on their birth certificate?
    • Consider the timing of visits, physical contact, and making the environment more child-friendly.

Policy & Practical Implications (continued)

  • Parenting programs.
  • Planning for post-release transition.
  • Involve other professionals – e.g., schools, legal, to better support families through this process.

Summary

  • Implications extend beyond the individual incarcerated.
  • Families, including children, are affected.
  • Barriers to visits are numerous.
  • There are risks, but also noted benefits to visits for prisoners and children.
  • Need for alignment between research, policy, and practice with a focus on supporting families.