Family & Corrections Network
The
Second North American Conference on
Fathers Behind Bars and on the Street
November 6-8, 2002 St. Louis, MO
Fathers in the Juvenile Justice System
by Anne Nurse
In recent years, increasing attention has been paid to the topic of incarcerated fatherhood. Often ignored, however, are the many fathers serving time in juvenile facilities. While we do not have reliable data on the number of fathers in juvenile detention nationwide, estimates suggest that between 20 and 25 percent of inmates residing in state facilities may be fathers (Abeyratne, Sowards, & Brewer, 1995; California Youth Authority, 1995). This percentage is notable given that nationwide only about 5 percent of men under the age of twenty are fathers (Darroch, Landry, & Oslak, 1999). These men are disproportionately represented in juvenile prison because incarceration and young fathering are concentrated in the same impoverished communities. In addition, regardless of their backgrounds, fathers appear more likely than their nonfather counterparts to engage in delinquent behaviors and to go to prison.
There are a number of reasons that we should be particularly concerned about juvenile incarcerated fatherhood. First, incarceration rates for young men have risen dramatically during the past two decades. The period from 1983 to 1995, for example, saw an increase of almost 50 percent. Recent estimates suggest that 368 of every 100,000 juveniles are in custody at any given time (OJJDP, 1999). As a result, a significant number of young fathers will spend a portion of their children’s lives behind bars. Second, because of high recidivism rates, many of the men who are locked up in juvenile prisons today will end up serving time adult facilities in the future. What we do at the juvenile level has important implications for the kinds of problems and issues our adult inmates face.
High rates of incarcerated young fatherhood have profound social and financial effects on children, families, and communities. As a result, one of the primary goals of public policy should be to reduce the number of young fathers in prison. One way to do this is to reconsider the current guidelines increasing the length of juvenile sentences. In 1997 the US House of Representatives passed a bill authorizing the distribution of 1.6 billion dollars to states who toughen penalties against juvenile offenders. At the same time, in some states we have begun extending the three strikes laws to juveniles and we are also trying increasing numbers of juveniles as adults. With increases in sentence length, we lose potentially productive citizens and fathers to the correctional system. We need to assess carefully our sentencing policies in order to protect the public but still limit the amount of time served by juveniles.
I believe that policies intended to decrease the number of young incarcerated fathers, such as those I have just described, make sense in light of the prohibitive costs of their imprisonment. Unfortunately, current public opinion regarding criminals indicates that the such policies will be difficult to implement. Fears about crime, coupled with a desire to punish criminals, have resulted in an environment where incarceration is seen as the only way to achieve crime prevention. The public seems unwilling to consider the possibility that the long-term costs of imprisonment may outweigh the short-term costs of policies designed to reduce the number of fathers in prison. This political reality makes it clear that large numbers of young fathers will continue to enter our correctional system. For this reason, we must develop improved and enlightened policies for dealing with them.
Juvenile prisons need to develop policies that help inmates to spend time with their children. Currently, visitation policies vary widely by state and by institution. In some states, children are admitted to regular visiting hours and may have contact with their fathers. In other states, however, children are not allowed at visiting hours and can only be admitted to the institution under special circumstances. Prison provides a unique opportunity for fathers to spend time with children in a supervised setting. It may also ease the trauma associated with parent/child separation. Denise Johnston’s work (1995) shows that children who have an incarcerated parent are more likely to experience depression, anger, guilt, and academic problems. She argues that prison visits allow both parents and children to work out feelings of grief and loss that frequently accompany separation. Her work also suggests that children who visit with their incarcerated parent are better able to develop realistic images of them.
Given the positive findings regarding parent/child visitation in prison, it makes sense to implement policies that facilitate contact. Of course, children’s caretakers must have the final say about visitation and there should be policies limiting or prohibiting visitation for men who have abused their children. In the majority of cases, however, it is in the interest of both fathers and children that men are helped to develop and maintain healthy relationships. One of the primary ways this can be done is to make visitation more child-friendly by providing toys and activities. Although it may be expensive, the prison system should become more flexible in their policies toward child visitation. Every effort should be made to ensure that children who come to prison are admitted and allowed to see their fathers. Nonprofit groups who provide transportation services for the families of inmates should be encouraged. Additionally, it should be recognized that visitation is not the only way that fathers spend time with children. Phone calls are also very important. Fathers should be allowed to call their children on a regular basis, even if this means that they are allowed to make more calls than other inmates. Finally, parenting classes should be provided at more juvenile facilities. While some states already have these classes, most do not. Parenting classes can provide young fathers with important skills and support. Nonprofit groups can play a pivotal role in the development and provision of these courses.
Each year an increasing number of young fathers spend time in our nation’s correctional facilities. Time spent in prison often presents insurmountable obstacles for a father struggling to build or maintain a close and positive relationship with his children. It is imperative that we find ways to mitigate the harm done to children, families, and communities by the incarceration of juvenile fathers. I appeal to you as policymakers, practitioners, academics and voters—juvenile fathers are too numerous and too important a group to ignore.
Anne M. Nurse is the author of Fatherhood Arrested, a study of fathers while in the CA Youth Authority and upon release.
References
Abeyratne, S., B. Sowars, and L. Brewer. 1995. Youths Incarcerated in ODYS Institutions Who Have Children and Youths Incarcerated in ODYS Institutions Who Are Children of Teenage Parents. Columbus: Ohio Department of Youth Services, Office of Research.
California Youth Authority. 1995. Office of Criminal Justice Planning Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Program Project Summary.
Darroch, J.E., D.J. Landry, and S. Oslak. Pregnancy Rates Among U.S. Women and Their Partners in 1994. Family Planning Perspectives 31(3):122-26.
Johnston, D. 1995. Jailed Mothers. In Children of Incarcerated Parents, eds. K. Gabel and D. Johnston, 41-58. New York: Lexington Books.
Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. 1999. OJJDP Statistical Briefing Book. Online. Available: http://www.ojjdp.ncjrs.org/ojstatbb/qa162.html. 30 September.