Children's Involvement In Prisons

During this period, children experience a sense of loss and emptiness. Thereby, they might be tempted to fill this void with alcohol and substance abuse. Also, children are more likely to get involved in risky behavior. According to the Women’s Prison & Home Association, Inc., “Children of offenders are five times more likely than their peers to end up in prison themselves

More than often children experience stigmatization and shame for having a parent in prison. In some settings children experience hatred and bullying because their mothers are incarcerated. This stigmatization is associated with tendencies of low self-esteem, self-hatred and sense of worthlessness. Thus, children start to detach themselves from social settings and become more antisocial, due to feelings of not fitting in or being accepted by their peers. This leads to higher susceptibility to peer teasing and might react violently to these interactions. Such events can lead to involvement in the criminal justice system. Moreover, conflicts in school arise when children are unwilling to attend school after their mothers become incarcerated. The absence of maternal figure results in decreased academic performance, since This becomes more evident when children start act out and misbehave in school, and as they grow older suspensions and dropout rates increases. …show more content…
Many of this factor, prevailed even before incarceration. A combination of maternal incarceration and co-occurring risk factors places black children at disadvantage and may be the cause for children problematic outcomes. Consequently, many of these issues faced by children are farther developed and carried into