It is estimated that between 1 and 2 percent of the nation’s children age 17 or younger
have a parent in the prison system in 1999. In addition, a majority of those children were
younger than 10 years old. The imprisoned parents are overwhelmingly male and in a
state prison instead of a federal facility, but the number of children with the mother
incarcerated (98 percent from 1991 to 1999) are increasing at a faster rate than fathers (58
percent over the same time period). (Mumola)
The children are traumatized by the separation from their parents and stigmatized by the
experience. They find themselves in situations where they may well be deprived of a
regular home, in a household with little or no income, caregivers may shift constantly,
they may be separated from any siblings, and they have no parental guidance. “Because
of all of this, the children of incarcerated parents should be of special concern to … child
welfare workers.” (North Carolina) An emphasis needs to be placed on getting these
children into a safe and secure, permanent form of housing.
These children may react in different ways to the parental incarceration. According to
Wright & Seymour these things can include:
♦
Identification with incarcerated parent, awareness of social stigma
♦
Change in future orientation and intrusive thoughts about their parents
♦
Concerned about outcomes of case, unsure and worried about how to live without
mother, concern about an uncertain future
♦
Flashbacks to traumatic events related to arrests
♦
Embarrassment
♦
Fear, anxiety
♦
Anger and hyperarousal
♦
Sadness
♦
Guilt
♦
Low self-esteem
♦
Loneliness, feelings of abandonment, emotional withdrawal from friends and
family
♦
Depression
♦
Sleeplessness
♦
Eating and sleeping disorders
♦
Attention disorders and developmental regression
♦
Diminished academic performance, classroom behavior difficulties and truancy
♦
Aggression, acting out, antisocial behaviors, and trauma-reactive behavior leading
to early crime involvement
All of these will interact, and it will be difficult to tell which factors are the most
important with any specific child. In addition, they may result in Developmental Delays
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- Spring '11
- CrystalDickersonBynum
-
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