Transcript The Impact of Incarceration on Children

The Impact of Incarceration on
Children
Presented by: Nikki Byrd
KARE Family Center
Statistics and Facts
• Gender of parent is a major factor in patterns of
incarceration. Fathers 90%
• Parents ethnicity is also a factor. More African
American parents in Federal and State prisons
than Hispanic or non-Hispanic whites.
• Who looks after the children? When father
incarcerated 90% of the time it is the mother.
When mother is incarcerated it is the
grandmother 53% of the time.
Common Stress Points
• The Arrest: Fear, Confusion and Panic
• Pre-trial and During Trial: Anxiety and
Frustration
• Sentencing: Hopelessness and
Helplessness
• Initial Incarceration: Abandonment, Stigma
and Resentment
• Pre and Post Release: Ambivalence
Things to Consider
• Many times children not told where parent
is:
• Leaves child confused and questioning.
• Child imagines all kinds of explanation and
answers.
• Child feels vulnerable, unprotected and at
fault.
• Lying to child causes child to loose trust in
caregiver.
About Children of Prisoners
(Always remember every family
and their circumstances differ)
• Children experience loss
• Most are cared for by family members
• Most children mourn the loss of parent:
the one they had or the one that could
have been
• In most cases, contact with parent helps
Effects on Kids: General
• Incarceration has impact but so does
poverty, family involvement with alcohol
and other drugs, intra-familial violence,
previous separations and crime
• The separation is almost always traumatic
for child
• Developmental delays
• Maladaptive coping strategies
Child Reaction to Parental
Incarceration
• Identifies with incarcerated parent
• Awareness of social stigma
• Flashbacks to traumatic events related to
arrest
• Fear, anxiety, anger, hyperarousal,
sadness, guilt, low self-esteem,
depression, lonliness, eating and sleeping
disorders, diminished academic
performance and aggression
Short Term Effects
• “Conspiracy of silence” causes anxiety
and fear. Undermines children’s ability to
cope.
• Children need: honest, factual information
and to have their experience validated.
• Children more likely to have negative
reactions to the experience if they can not
talk about it
Long Term Effects
• Infants: child develops attachment issues
• Young children: insecure attachments
• School age children: peer relationship problems
and school problems (poor grades and/or
aggressiveness)
• Boys vs. Girls: both adversely affected but
modes of expression differs. Boys: more likely to
display externalizing behavioral issues. Girls:
more likely to display internalizing problems
• Pre- schoolers (3-5): age of opposition, power
and control battles and magical thinking.
• Believe they are responsible in ways that are
both illogical and unreasonable.
• May regress in behavior: bed wetting,
sleeplessness etc
• Maintaining contact with parent may be most
critical at this stage of development to avoid
feelings of guilt, loss of control, powerlessness
and loyalty conflicts
• Early School Age (5-8): beginning to
replace parents as center of their universe.
• Gain an understanding of the concept of
crime and punishment.
• Need to experience success and develop
a sense of competence with peers and
adults
• Vulnerable to taunts from peers about
parent’s arrest/incarceration.
• Conflict between affiliation and family
loyalty
• Pre-adolescence (9-11):Struggle to understand the fact that
right and wrong can vary family by family.
• Striving to learn about their feelings about peers and family
members as well as the meaning behind the behaviors of
others.
• Adults need to provide labels for children’s feelings without
judging them.
• Adults need to provide children with good role models and
teach children communication skills by saying what they
mean and listening with compassion.
• Children need to be respected for their opinions and tastes.
• May choose to distance themselves from incarcerated
parent.
• As they strive to understand rules and consequences and
have empathy for others adults must be honest and
genuine.
• Adolescence: Teens are out in the world trying to figure
out who they are, where they are going and who they
want to go with them. They are balancing taking risks
and avoiding danger.
• Often expected to assume adult roles
• Fear they will turn out like their incarcerated parent
(attempt to be like them or fiercely reject them)
• Keep in mind children will react differently to parents
incarceration depending on age, personality, family
circumstances, environmental stress, details of crime
and incarceration and available supports.
Overview
• Parental incarceration in first year of child’s life
may prevent parent-child bonding
• Autonomy and initiative in children 2-6 may be
compromised
• Children 7-10 may have a hard time achieving in
school
• Adolescents aged 11-14 may act out
• The cumulative effects appear in 15-18 year
olds. May have negative attitudes towards law
enforcement and the criminal justice system.
Modifiers
• Pre-incarceration conditions:
• Parent child relationship
• Quality of relationships with extended
family and non-family social networks
• Factors during incarcerations:
• Nature and quality of alternate care-giving
arrangement
• Opportunities to maintain contact with the
absent parent
What the Children Need
• Consistent caring adults who understand that in general children
love their parents
• People who will not condemn the incarcerated parent
• People who understand they feel angry, sad, confused and worried
• A chance to express these feelings and learn to cope with them
• A chance to learn and practice skills and keep busy with activities
• Faith or affiliation with a community that can provide meaning for
child beyond their own crisis
• People who can help them maintain contact with incarcerated parent
or explain to them why they can not maintain contact.
Any Questions????