What are the Effects of Parental Incarceration on Children?

A general trend is common, regardless of the source of information, concerning the effects of parental incarceration on children, and that is that there are many factors that contribute to a child’s emotional and behavioral outcomes. When assessing the potential emotional and behavioral outcomes of children with incarcerated parents we must first understand that there are contextual risk factors that play a role as well. Contextual risk factors are poverty, poor parenting, delinquent peers or siblings, physical and emotional abuse. These risk factors make it almost impossible to pinpoint the emotional and behavioral effects that can be attributed solely to parental incarceration. Despite this arduous task, many researches have attempted to isolate the effects of parental incarceration seen in children, I will summarize a few below. According to research conducted by Phillips, Burns, Wagner, Kramer, and Robbins, and published in their paper, “Parental Incarceration Among Adolescents

When considering the effects of parental incarceration on children we must look at a major factor and that is the gender of the incarcerated parent.  Ross D. Parke and Alison Clarke-Stewart stress the importance of this throughout their paper, " Effects of Parental Incarceration on Young Children ." According to Parke and Clarke-Stewart, fathers account for 90% of incarcerated parents. They discuss several effects of parental incarceration that are directly impacted by the gender of the parent. First, they analyze the living arrangements at the time of incarceration.  Noting that more than half of the children are already living with someone other than their biological parent. As to be expected, the half that is living with a biological parent is living with their mother. The authors conclude their assessment of living arrangements by stating that, consequently, this is not something typically considered when evaluating the effects of parental incarceration on children. Sec

Today, there are millions of U.S. children with parents behind bars. So, what happens to these children when one or more parent is sent to prison or jail? When a parent is incarcerated, undue burden and stress are placed upon the children as well as their caregivers.  Emotional, financial, health care and education related consequences are seen with an incarcerated parent.  These effects are not the same for all children; negative effects vary depending on several factors, such as the parent-child relationship prior to incarceration and additional non-parental support outside of the home. Frequently, these families are already at a disadvantage; living below the poverty line, living in neighborhoods where drug abuse and crime is rampant.  What can we do to lessen the disadvantage that these children face? How do we halt the cycle of incarceration that can be seen in these families? These children deserve to have a voice, yet many of the programs that have been established to sup