Incarcerated Parents Essay

Several longitudinal studies have demonstrated significant relationships between family socioeconomic disadvantage, parenting behavior, parental criminality, children’s delinquency and eventual offending as adults (Thornberry and Khrohn 2002). Majority of youth who have incarcerated parents are incapacitated by poverty. Most parent offenders do not exceed an elementary education, which results in a lack of knowledge and employment. They are bound in repeating cycles of becoming a product of their environment. An environment with predominantly low-income families typically includes gang violence and drugs. The leading case that parents are incarcerated for are drugs. If a parent has an addiction, it can decrease the amount of time they are …show more content…
Depending on the case and length of incarceration, parental rights are at risk to be taken away. Approximately one-half of state prisoners (64 percent of mothers and 47 percent of fathers) lived with at least one of their children either in the month before or just prior to imprisonment(Christian 2009). In a single parent home, mothers generally have custody of the children. Women offenders who are pregnant are at risk of having their parental rights terminated to infants born while they are incarcerated. Mothers tend to have a closer relationship with their children than fathers. This can be because the mother is seen to be more nurturing and usually has primary custody of the children. Incarceration limits the quantity and quality of involvement between a parent and child. Parents in prison are incapacitated from participating fully in their children’s lives; most children are limited to irregular visits and phone calls (Poehlmann 2010). Despite their age, all youth have been shown to display greater behavioral problems following the incarceration of their