When a person goes to jail, it is not only them who suffers.

It is hard to be a child with absent

parents. It is even more difficult to have your parent incarcerated. Having a parent in prison
could be one of the toughest aspects a child faces in their life time, but for most children with
imprisoned parents, it is just the beginning of a series of misfortunate events. A study conducted
proves that children of incarcerated parents are six times more likely than children without
incarcerated to be imprisoned as adults (Steve Christian, 2009)). Children with incarcerated
parents are more susceptible to make bad choices because of the pathway that has been paved
before them. Another study has collected data that shows how many people with children are
imprisoned:

1.7 million Children under age 18 had a parent in state or federal prison, representing
2.3 percent of the total U.S. child population.
In between 1991-2007 the number of children with a mother in prison increased by 131
percent, from 63,900 to 147,400.
In 2007, 744,200 male prison inmates had minor children, compared to 65,500 women
inmates.
Most prisoners had at least one child under age 18 (52 percent of state inmates and 63
percent of federal inmates).
Sixty-two percent of women in state prison and 56 percent of female inmates in federal
prison were parents of minor children, compared to 51 percent of male state prisoners and
63 percent of male federal inmates. (Steve Christian, 2009)
Among black children with fathers without a high school diploma, about 50% will
experience parental incarceration by age 14, compared to 7% of white children ( HoaiTran Bui, 2014).

These results are very shocking and the numbers are only going to increase. The numbers are
going to increase because the prison system, when associated with families, is a chain reaction.
Once your parents are in the prison system, you are six times more likely to follow in their
footsteps when you are an adult.
Long term effects:
Having a parents incarcerate has many effects on the children. One common problem is the delay
or lack of proper growth and development. According to Sara Ipatenco, when a child is taken
away from their parent, they spend more time longing for their parents love and affection rather
than spending time on themselves to grow and develop as normal children should. She also said
that these children are less likely to develop self -control, independence and productivity. They
are less likely to develop these traits because they do not have a stable guardian or role model to
guide them through their life.
Children with incarcerated parents also have bonding and trust issues. When a parent goes to
prison, both the parent and the child miss out on key bonding and attachment time. In order to
form a positive and close relationship with a parent, a child must have daily contact with his
mom or dad. Having a parent in prison prevents a child from getting that one-on-one time. Over
time, that can cause a child difficulties forming relationships with others, including adults and
peers. Without at least one responsible parent, many children experience low self-esteem and
lack of an adequate support system to help them navigate the challenges of growing up years.
(Sara Ipatenco, 2007) Low self-esteem and an in ability to form good, nurturing relationships is
one reason that even after parents are released from prison, they dont have good relationships
with their children. The majority of studies have generally found that both children and their
incarcerated parents benefit from maintaining some form of contact (Office of Child
Development, 2011). It also explains why many children with imprisoned parents are likely to
get into abusive relationships. When the children grow up they feel as if something was missing
from their childhood. Love. They try to seek that love elsewhere, where there is anything but
love.
School-age children of incarcerated parents exhibit school-related problems. The Sack et al.
study in 1997 reported that over 50% of the children of incarcerated parents had school
problems, such as poor grades or instances of aggression. 16% of children between the ages of
six and eight in the study, showed signs of fearing school and were unwilling to go to school for
a 4-6week period after their parent's incarceration. In another study called Stanton, there were
even larger rates of school problems: 70% of 166 children of incarcerated mothers showed poor
academic performance and 5% exhibited classroom behavior problems. (Ross D. Parke, 2001)
Next time you see someone with behavioral problems in class and they always get poor grades,
dont judge, that could just be an effect of their parents being in jail.
"These kids are saddled with disadvantages," said Kristin Turney, the author of the study and an
assistant professor of sociology at UC-Irvine. "They're not only dealing with parental
incarceration, but also mental health issues. It might make finding a job more difficult, or they
may be forced to grow up faster than peers ( Hoai-Tran Bui, 2014). Not only will children of

incarcerated parents have a hard time at school when they are young, but they may also have a
really hard time getting into a college because of their grades from high school. They could also
have a rough time going to college because of their economic stance. These children may not
have the funding and support they need to earn enough money to go to college. This doesnt just
set them up to not get the education they want, but it also makes them unable to get good stable
jobs when they are out of high school. Not getting a good income when they reach adult hood
could make these children start doing bad things and cause them to end up right where their
parents left off.
Short term effects:
As well as having an incarcerated parent can create long term effects, it can also create short
term ones.
According to Johnson (1999), one in five children are present at the arrest of their parent and
watch them get taken away by police officers. Jose-Kampfner (1995) interviewed 30 children
who witnessed their mother's arrest and reported that these children suffered nightmares and
flashbacks to the arrest incident (K. Alison Clarke-Stewart, 2001). There are many
disagreements on the way people should handle telling children what happened to their parents.
Some argue that children ought to be protected from the knowledge that their parents are
incarcerated as a way of minimizing the trauma associated with the separation (Becker &
Margolin, 1997). Others argue that the emotional distress of children is exacerbated by the
unwillingness of family, friends or caregivers to discuss their parent's incarceration (Snyder-Joy
& Carlo, 1998). I believe that is you are going to tell the4 children what happed, you should
ease them into it and not tell them everything thing at once. But at the same time, if their parents
were arrested for something upsetting like murder, wait until the child is older to tell them.
Visitation programs:
Even though there are problems associated with child visitation of incarcerated parents, most
incarcerated parents feel that visits are worth time for them and their children. As one
incarcerated mother put it, "The main advantage of the visits are tightening up the relationship,
watching your children grow, how you've changed, being able to love one another (Datesman &
Cales, 1983, p. 147, cited by Bloch & Potthast, 1998). Because of the children and parents
benefiting from visitations, many women's institutions have developed visiting programs for
inmates. These programs include play areas for parents and children, flexible scheduling, and
long visits. Evaluations of visitation programs underscore the benefits of these efforts. For
example, Snyder-Joy and Carlo (1998) initiated a mother-child visitation program for 40 mothers
and their children, which provided special monthly visits in addition to regular visits. Activities
(crafts, games, reading, etc.) were encouraged in a room set aside for these programs, and
transportation was provided as well. Based on interviews with 31 mothers and 27 waiting-list
control mothers, Snyder-Joy and Carlo found that program mothers had more frequent contact
with their children and spent more time discussing issues of importance to them, such as their
behavior and feelings. The mothers' fears about their parenting abilities decreased, and they
viewed their children as doing better than control mothers did (K. Alison Clarke-Stewart, 2001)

The states should try to make programs like these more common in prisons. It will be helpful in
the long run when the prisons are not seeing different generations of the same family locked up
in cells. These programs will make children more aware of where they dont want to end up
because they will be able to experience the conditions that their parents are living in.
Conclusion:
There is very little good that comes from your parents being incarcerated. In some cases, if you
have seen what your parents has gone through, children may not want to end up like them and do
everything they can to stay out of the prison system. But in most cases that is not what happens.
In most cases the child is troubled and is very likely to end up in the same prison system as their
parents were once in or still are. Having an incarcerated parent is not an ideal situation and is
very hard on their children. With the help of good role models and caregivers, people can
exonerate the chance of their child going to prison.

Citations page:
"Medical Treatment In Prison." The British Medical Journal 1.5173 (1990): 657. Parents in
Prison. The Sentencing Project. Web.
Iptenco, Sara. "The Effects of a Parents Incarceration a Child." The Effect of a Parent's
Incarceration a Child. Demand Media, n.d. Web.
Stewart, Alison K., and Ross D. Parke. "Effects of Parental Incarceration on Young Children."
ASPE. N.p., 13 June 2015. Web. 28 Apr. 2016.
Of, Hildren. Children of Incarcerated Parents (n.d.): n. pag. Children of Incarcerated Parents.
Web.
"Children Of Parents In Jail Or Prison: Issues Related To Maintaining Contact - Office of Child
Development - University of Pittsburgh." Children Of Parents In Jail Or Prison: Issues Related
To Maintaining Contact - Office of Child Development - University of Pittsburgh. University of
Pitsburgh, n.d. Web. 28 Apr. 2016.
Bui, USATODAY Hoai-Tran. "Study: Parental Incarceration May Be Worse than Divorce." USA
Today. Gannett, 25 Aug. 2014. Web. 28 Apr. 2016.