Parental Incarceration and the Family: Psychological and Social Effects of Imprisonment on Children, Parents, and Caregivers

Joyce A. Arditti

Published by New York University Press 2012

Parental Incarceration and the Family

Psychological and Social Effects of Imprisonment on Children, Parents, and Caregivers

Joyce A. Arditti

https://doi.org/10.18574/nyu/9780814705131.001.0001

Overview
Contents

About this book

Over 2% of U.S.children under the age of 18—more than 1,700,000 children—have a parent in prison. These children experience very real disadvantages when compared to their peers: they tend to experience lower levels of educational success, social exclusion, and even a higher likelihood of their own future incarceration. Meanwhile, their new caregivers have to adjust to their new responsibilities as their lives change overnight, and the incarcerated parents are cut off from their children’s development.

Parental Incarceration and the Family brings a family perspective to our understanding of what it means to have so many of our nation’s parents in prison. Drawing from the field’s most recent research and the author’s own fieldwork, Joyce Arditti offers an in-depth look at how incarceration affects entire families: offender parents, children, and care-givers. Through the use of exemplars, anecdotes, and reflections, Joyce Arditti puts a human face on the mass of humanity behind bars, as well as those family members who are affected by a parent’s imprisonment. In focusing on offenders as parents, a radically different social policy agenda emerges—one that calls for real reform and that responds to the collective vulnerabilities of the incarcerated and their kin.

Author information

ArdittiJoyce A.:

Joyce A. Arditti is Professor of Human Development at Virginia Tech. Her research interests include family disruption, parent-child relationships in vulnerable families, and public policy. Her scholarship is recognized nationally and abroad and she has published numerous empirical and review articles in therapy, human services, family studies, and criminal justice journals. Joyce recently served as the editor in chief of Family Relations: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Applied Family Studies.

Reviews

J. Mark Eddy,School of Social Work, University of Washington:
"Skillfully weaves the perspectives of a scientist and clinician with the experiences of incarcerated parents to shed light on child and family outcomes related to one of the largest uncontrolled social experiments in our history.

Barbara J. Myers,Virginia Commonwealth University:
This richly-referenced book is both scholarly and engaging. Bringing a family focus to issues of incarceration, it combines a sound conceptual foundation and extensive literature review with vignettes and observations of real people who broke the law and are locked up for years. We get to see the impact that our nations correctional policies have on incarcerated mothers and fathers as well as on the children, spouses, and extended family who are left back home. Comprehensive and insightful, this book will become a standard reference for scholars, policy-makers, and anyone concerned about what incarceration does to families and to our society.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Acknowledgments Publicly Available Download PDF	ix
1. Introduction A Framework for Understanding Parental Incarceration Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
2. Context and Processes Associated with Incarcerated Parenting Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	23
3. Maternal Incarceration Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	44
4. Paternal Incarceration Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	70
5. The Effects of Incarceration on Families and Children Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	95
6. Conclusion Practice and Policy Implications of a Family Perspective on Parental Incarceration Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	140
Appendix Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	184
Notes Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	205
Bibliography Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	209
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	237
About the Author Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	249

Language: English
Publisher: New York University Press
Audience: Professional and scholarly;

eBook

Published: May 28, 2012
ISBN: 9780814705131