Family & Corrections Network
The
Second North American Conference on
Fathers Behind Bars and on the Street
November 6-8, 2002 St. Louis, MO
The Effects of Fathers’ Short-Term
Imprisonment on Their Children
by Joe Murray
It is estimated that there are at least 100,000 children separated from an imprisoned father every year (Shaw, 1987). Children of imprisoned parents have been referred to as the “Orphans of justice” (Shaw 1992) and the “hidden victims” of crime. Previous research shows that during a parent’s incarceration, children often suffer acute psychosocial problems (Boswell and Wedge 2002), and may do so even after release (Richards and McWilliams 1996).
It is believed that children are affected by parental incarceration because of the specific backgrounds children are already exposed to, their separation from an important attachment figure through incarceration, changing home and school circumstances caused by parental imprisonment, and the social stigma and isolation often experienced by prisoners’ families. However, little research has been conducted on the factors that might protect children from such adverse outcomes as trauma, depression, withdrawal, lower school performance, antisocial behaviour and aggressive reactions commonly found amongst children of incarcerated parents.
This project aims to understand how factors, such as the extent of contact between children and imprisoned fathers, the children’s experiences of care during paternal incarceration, and different child understandings of their father’s absence, might explain differing outcomes for children.
A longitudinal study is proposed to better understand the factors that influence child adjustment during paternal incarceration, and the types of services that might support these children. Prisoners with children will be interviewed at a local prison at three points in time: when first received into custody, one month prior to release, and two months post release. Interviews would be strictly voluntary, and anonymity and confidentiality would be assured.
With further permission, interviews would be held at similar points of sentence with the prisoner’s children and the children’s caregivers. It is hoped that by first at reception, an under-researched period of incarceration will be better understood, and families who lose contact with prisoners later in sentence and therefore tend to be excluded from research, will be included in this study. Permission will also be sought to contact children’s teachers for behavioural and academic ratings of children at school. The qualitative and quantitative information obtained from participants will be used to analyse the factors that influence children’s experiences of paternal incarceration, and the types of service provision that might alleviate their difficulties.
Despite the large number of short-term prisoners in the UK, and the relative lack of support they receive, there has been very little research conducted on family contact with this group. It will be an important advance in research to talk to children directly about their experiences of their father’s incarceration, and to carry out follow-up interviews into the post-release period to understand the process of family and child adjustment to paternal incarceration.
The topic is of importance for penal theory because of the effects of imprisonment on innocent third parties (namely the child), prison policy regarding the importance of contact between prisoners and families, developmental criminology, in understanding a possible mechanism of intergenerational transition of antisocial tendencies, and it will be of use to those working with prisoners and their families in further understanding the problems children, carers and prisoners face. The study will also identify variables of importance for future longitudinal studies of effects of imprisonment on prisoners and their families.
Contact: Joe Murray, jm335@cam.ac.uk, Supervisor: Dr. Adrian Grounds, Institute of Criminology, University of Cambridge, UK.