Having a parent in prison can have an impact on a child’s mental health, social behavior, and educational prospects.
Mass incarceration has had significant and long-lasting impacts on American society, and particularly on the children of the incarcerated. This paper will provide an outlook on why having a parent who is incarcerated has a negative effect on the child. I will begin by providing an estimate on exactly how many of those incarcerated are parents. Secondly the effects the incarceration has on the children and finally what the government is doing to help these children to not follow into their parent’s footsteps.
According to the article From Prison to Home: The Effect of Incarceration and Reentry on Children, Families, and Communities …show more content…
The emotional trauma that may occur and the practical difficulties of a disrupted family life can be compounded by the social stigma that children may face as a result of having a parent in prison or jail. Children who have an incarcerated parent may experience financial hardship that result from the loss of that parent’s income. Additional, some incarcerated parents face termination of parental rights because their children have been in the foster care system beyond the time allowed by law. These children require support from local, state, and federal systems to serve their needs. Children of incarcerated parents may also face a number of other challenging circumstances. They may have experienced trauma related to their parent’s arrest or experiences leading up to it. Children of incarcerated parents may also be more likely to have faced other conflicting childhood experiences, including witnessing violence in their communities or directly in their household or exposure to drug and alcohol abuse (Children of Incarcerated Parents , 2014). Children exhibit the following behaviors due to the incarceration of their parent, including crying and sadness, confusion and worry, anger, acting out (including aggression, drop in school-work, delinquent activities, drug use, sexual promiscuity, and the like) and developmental regression (such as wetting the bed) (Sanders & Dunifon,
Mass incarceration has had significant and long-lasting impacts on American society, and particularly on the children of the incarcerated. This paper will provide an outlook on why having a parent who is incarcerated has a negative effect on the child. I will begin by providing an estimate on exactly how many of those incarcerated are parents. Secondly the effects the incarceration has on the children and finally what the government is doing to help these children to not follow into their parent’s footsteps.
According to the article From Prison to Home: The Effect of Incarceration and Reentry on Children, Families, and Communities …show more content…
The emotional trauma that may occur and the practical difficulties of a disrupted family life can be compounded by the social stigma that children may face as a result of having a parent in prison or jail. Children who have an incarcerated parent may experience financial hardship that result from the loss of that parent’s income. Additional, some incarcerated parents face termination of parental rights because their children have been in the foster care system beyond the time allowed by law. These children require support from local, state, and federal systems to serve their needs. Children of incarcerated parents may also face a number of other challenging circumstances. They may have experienced trauma related to their parent’s arrest or experiences leading up to it. Children of incarcerated parents may also be more likely to have faced other conflicting childhood experiences, including witnessing violence in their communities or directly in their household or exposure to drug and alcohol abuse (Children of Incarcerated Parents , 2014). Children exhibit the following behaviors due to the incarceration of their parent, including crying and sadness, confusion and worry, anger, acting out (including aggression, drop in school-work, delinquent activities, drug use, sexual promiscuity, and the like) and developmental regression (such as wetting the bed) (Sanders & Dunifon,