Family & Corrections Network

Notes on Inequity and Fathering: Institutional and Policy Issues

by Kirk E. Harris, PhD
Family Support America

Elements of the Issue

• Discretion and Systemic Inequality within the Criminal Justice System

• The Prison Industrial Complex

• Disability created by a Criminal Record

• Lack of Supports for Incarceration to Community Transition

Discretion within the Criminal Justice System

Challenges:
·Example: possession of 5 grams of crack cocaine receives a 5-year mandatory federal sentence with no possibility of parole. The same sentence for powder cocaine requires the possession of at least 500 grams.

·Example: recent public attention surrounding issues of police profiling of Black men.

·Example: emerging discussions about the disproportionate application of the death penalty to minority defendants.

Prison Industrial Complex
·The number of prisons have increased dramatically as the number of men in prison has doubled since 1985.

·Private sector operates $40 billion worth of business in state penal institutions.

·Rural areas sometimes use the establishment of a prison as an economic development strategy.

·We expend more public dollars on average maintaining an individual in prison than we do sending an individual to college.

Disability Created by a Criminal Record or Incarceration
·Criminal record limits access to employment

·Criminal record may limit access to public benefits

·Alienation by community

·Sense of alienation felt by incarcerated parents

·Limited skill training or educational opportunities in prison

Lack of Supports for Incarceration to Community Transition
·Penal institution approach is punitive and not family supportive.

·Incarcerated parents have limited contact with children.

·Incarcerated parents have limited contact with other family members.

·Community members have little understanding of the experience of incarceration.

·Few community institutions have services specifically targeted at facilitating the transition of incarcerated parents into the community

Recommendations
·Promote meaningful contact and opportunities to nurture for incarcerated parent.

·Create education, employment and training opportunities for parent while they are in prison.

·Create parenting resources and referral information for parents.

·Develop family to family support groups for incarcerated parents.

·Facilitate connections between incarcerated parents and their family's community prior to their departure from prison.

·Support advocacy efforts of community and family members that challenge systemic inequities.

·Challenge elected officials related to public policy choices/ public expenditures related to the building of prisons.

·Reinvigorate support for free legal services to families and communities.