Stacey Bouchet,
"Children with Incarcerated Parents: Many Stones Still Unturned"
(page 3 of 5)
Continued Challenges and Opportunities for Growth
Clearly, many of the recommendations from the 2008 report still need
to be realized. However, I will use this opportunity to highlight a few
issues not considered in the report, but that, I believe, warrant
attention.
First and foremost, the population of incarcerated individuals, and
thus parents, continues to grow. The documented number of children
affected has increased since my 2008 report. Now it is estimated that
over 1.7 million children under the age of 18 had a parent in state or
federal prison in 2007, representing 2.3% of the total U.S. child
population.[3]
The number of children with a father in prison increased
from 881,500 in 1991 to over 1.5 million in 2007, a 77% increase.
During that time, the number of children with a mother in prison
increased 131%, from 63,900 to 147,400.[4]
New Areas of Research
These growing numbers are of great concern. The challenges to
families due to parental incarceration are many and complex, and since
the 2008 report, there has been a surge of explanatory research on this
topic.[5]
Viewed cumulatively, this research shows that parental
incarceration likely has direct effects on children resulting from the
trauma of separation by incarceration (although the causal mechanism is
not yet clear), but that parental incarceration is also a marker for
additional risk factors. While children's responses to these risk
factors vary, a significant number of children of prisoners experience
challenges functioning academically and socially.
Research suggests that these children evidence higher levels of
conduct disorder and acting out. They are more frequently exposed to
violence, parental substance abuse, child abuse and neglect, and
parental mental health issues, and are more likely to demonstrate
significant behavioral, social-emotional, and school-related
problems.[6]
Ann Adalist Estrin, Director of the National Resource Center on
Children and Families of the Incarcerated (NRCCFI) at the Family and
Corrections Network, has provided a useful framework for understanding
the varying needs of children with incarcerated parents, as seen in
Figure 1 below.[7]
Figure 1 Children of the Incarcerated: A Continuum of Need
Ann also notes the need for further research in the areas of brain
development, trauma, temperament, and attachment theory to understand
the challenges to and effective services for children with incarcerated
parents. Indeed, because the average age of children with an
incarcerated parent is eight years old, with 58% under 10, and 22% under
five, the developmental effects of parental incarceration need to be
seriously considered.
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