Children of Imprisoned Parents - Essay Example

Children of Imprisoned Parents Name Institution Introduction Children of imprisoned parents are most at times considered forgotten victims of imprisonment (Murray, 2005). The growing prison population over the years has raised the question of whether it has an effect on children, families and community at large. When a mother or a father is incarcerated, the children are very affected. Children of imprisoned parents are never considered at all stages of justice process and can result to their needs and rights being overlooked. After parental imprisonment, children are expected to take up new roles and responsibilities so as to offer domestic, emotional or financial support to the rest of the family (Murray, 2005). Also, the relationship they had with the imprisoned parent suffer a lot and may be forced to maybe move to a new home or area due to parental imprisonment. Yet, the well-being of these children is neglected by the criminal judicial systems which may have negative consequences. Parental imprisonment leaves children feeling neglected and unsupported. This may lead to them acquiring antisocial behaviour (Murray, 2005). This essay is focussed on the effect of parental imprisonment in children. The essay will validate whether children with imprisoned parents are at a higher risk of offending that children from the normal population. Children of Imprisoned Parents Before the research of this topic, my thought was that children with imprisoned parents tend to offend more compared to children with no imprisoned parents. My perception was that, when a child is exposed to violent surrounding, they end up observing the behaviours and often end up copying what they see. A child surrounded by an imprisoned parent learn that imprisonment is the norm of life and this child may grow up knowing that offending is just what people do and this may increase their chances of engaging in offending behaviours. On the other hand, my understanding of the children from the ‘normal’ population is that they have positive associations around them and may grow up in an environment with positive support which minimize their chances of offending. Evidence from various psychology literatures suggests that parental imprisonment affects many children across the globe especially those who come from the disadvantaged and vulnerable families (Phillips et al., 2006). For instance, in Australia, about 5 per cent of children have at least one imprisoned parent. In 1999, about 1,498,800 children in the United States had at least one parent imprisoned and this number has increased considerably. In addition, in 2002, in Brazil, about 20,000 women have been imprisoned leaving their children behind and this number has increased over the years (Phillips et al., 2006). Compared to the general population, majority of the imprisoned parents come from families that are faced with unemployment, poverty, marital difficulties, low social class and mental health problems. When a parent go to prison, he or she or both may leave the child in an environment that experiences these issues and this may put children at higher risk of developing antisocial behaviours and criminal tendencies in the future although this does not necessitates it (Phillips et al., 2006). Parental imprisonment often aggravates strong reactions in children. These reactions and emotions may differ from one child to another and they include sadness, anger as well as a sense of loss (Phillips et al., 2006). Some children were used to their parents not being around even before their imprisonment and such children may not be affected as those who depend on their parent entirely for emotional, financial and social support. Even though children with imprisoned pass through similar stresses, their response to imprisonment is not uniform (Hayward and DePanfilis, 2007). The effects of parental imprisonment in children depend on offence type, socio-demographic factors as well as social support. These effects can be long-lasting and intense. More often than not, children with incarcerated parents pass through profound discrimination and are stigmatised, which may result to them having trauma, fear, shame and low esteem. In some instances, these children become withdrawn from the entire society. Research suggests that this can make them suffer from poor school performance, dropout, increased aggression and antisocial tendencies (Hayward and DePanfilis, 2007). In addition, children with imprisoned parents can also suffer from physical and emotional health damage (Hayward and DePanfilis, 2007). The perceived prevalent and severity of health effects is intense and include change in sleep patterns, alcohol and tobacco abuse, change in eating behaviour and post-traumatic stress disorder. Different children understand their parent’s incarceration differently. Younger children are often given inaccurate information about their parent’s absence (Hayward and DePanfilis, 2007). Keeping the parental imprisonment secrete may be helpful as it can avoid complications and reduce trauma of separation. Nevertheless, lack of knowledge may weaken the children’s ability to cope. Not having a parent around may be traumatizing to the children. Regardless of the connections between a child and a parent, parental imprisonment makes children have a feeling of loss. A feeling of loss may affect children’s social lives and may lead to antisocial behaviour (Hayward and DePanfilis, 2007). It is frequently assumed that children with imprisoned parents are five times more likely to engage in criminal activities. This may be attributed to the fact that children with imprisoned parents are three times more likely to develop antisocial behaviour compared to the general population of children. Boswell (2002) has concluded that parental imprisonment is not directly associated with child’s future offending behaviour. However, there is a link between parental incarceration and children’s antisocial behaviour. This means that parental imprisonment increases the risk for antisocial behaviour in children. According to the theory of psychopathy, psychopaths are considered to having antisocial personality disorder (Lilly, Cullen and Ball, 2011). Antisocial Personality Disorder involves disregard for the rights and emotions of others. Some psychopathy traits may include lack of responsibility, social insensitivity, low level of emotions and troublesome behaviour. The psychopathy personality theory illustrates that antisocial personality among children is as a result of destruction of relationships and lack of emotional support. Bor et al. (2004) conducted a research study to determine the reason for the development of psychopathy behaviour. The reasons given for the occurrence of psychopathy behaviour included convicted parent, low involvement of parents, disrupted families and low social class. The study suggested that psychopathy behaviour occur due to environmental factors. When a parent goes to prison, the children are left without any parental support and may experience negligence. This may lead to the development of antisocial behaviour. Bor et al. (2004), has suggested that there is a close connection between antisocial behaviour and violence and other offending behaviours. Psychopathy and antisocial disorder are associated with predatory and proactive aggression which is characterised by low level of emotion and regard for others. Children with aggression are more likely to develop offending behaviour in the later life (Bor et al., 2004). In addition, studies of personality have indicated that offending behaviours are passed from one generation to another. As mentioned earlier, children with imprisoned parents are often isolated from the entire society. Parents often try to keep their children far from other children facing parental imprisonment. One reason for this is because they often assume that these children will take up the behaviour of their parents. According to biology theory, offending behaviour is closely linked to biology (Lilly, Cullen and Ball, 2011). The theory illustrates that a pattern of crime in a given family often results to possible development of offending behaviour among children in the family. Offending characteristics have moderate genetic influences. Offending behaviours are influenced by genetics (Lilly, Cullen and Ball, 2011). Studies have indicated that impulsive, aggression and violent behaviour is attributed to low-activity variant of MAO-A gene which can be transferred from one generation to another. This explanation highlights that when a parent is violent and aggressive, the child is likely to acquire such characteristics. This suggests that children with imprisoned parents are likely to engage in offending behaviour. Considerable amount of imprisoned parents were took care of their children’s needs and were involved in every step of their growing up- living with them, providing them financially, and supporting their social and academic life (Hayward and DePanfilis, 2007). Mothers are more involved in raising children than fathers and their imprisonment bring far more adverse effects in these children. When a supporting parent gets imprisoned due to offending behaviour, children experience disruption of their living arrangements which they are not used to. In addition, parental imprisonment leads to single parenting. Boswell (2002) carried out a research which indicated that more men than women get imprisoned. This leaves women to take care of children emotionally and financially. Lack of fatherly presence affects children especially male children. Children in such situations experience family instability and lack of male figure in the family. And due to this, they may end up being frustrated, emotionless and may develop violent behaviours (Hayward and DePanfilis, 2007). A recent study carried out by Hayward and DePanfilis (2007) has illustrated that parental imprisonment brings about economic strain in families characterised by low-income level, lower standard of living and inability to take care of children. In addition to economic strain, parental imprisonment will lead to instability in terms of frequent moves, divorce, school changes and introduction of new parental figure. Generally, parental imprisonment results to family instability. And according to psychopathy personality theory, family instability contributes to psychopathy and antisocial behaviours (Bor et al., 2004). According to Fragile Families Study, children who are faced with parental imprisonment are at higher risk of facing maternal hardship than children from other families with no parental incarceration history (Hayward and DePanfilis, 2007). For instance, from the study, children who had their father incarcerated were 30 per cent more likely to experience maternal hardship and two times at higher risk of facing contact with child warfare system. Children living in stable households with nurturing parents tend to have better life compared to those experiencing family instability due to parental imprisonment (Bor et al., 2004). These children have good connection to siblings, friends, society and extended family. Moreover, unlike other instances of loss including illness and death, parental imprisonment rarely elicits sympathy and support and stigma that comes with being a child of a prisoner is an integral difficulty that children face. The society often perceives imprisoned parents as intrinsically bad parents and is seen to offend the entire society (Bor et al., 2004). The time to grieve is denied due to the nature of the loss due to parental imprisonment. Many children of prisoners are often made to feel like criminals and this can make them feel uncomfortable interacting with other children. It can also affect children’s self-confidence and sense of value with the stigma remaining even after the parent has been released (Bor et al., 2004). Due to this, children may develop aggressiveness and violence as a means of protecting themselves from the entire society and this may lead to offending behaviours in the future. The occurrence of parent’s arrests is the first time a child faces the criminal justice system and the way the situation happens can have an impact on how the child perceive the criminal justice officials (Murray and Farrington, 2005). The occasion of a parent’s arrests is very shocking and distressing to children. The first days after parent’s arrest are considered the worst period to children but if handled well can increase respect for officials by the children. Watching a parent being taken away is a huge trauma a child can experience. The trauma can be severe if the child witnessed the parent being taken away violently and forcibly (Murray and Farrington, 2005). This trauma can change the way children view criminal justice officials and they may end up having hatred feeling towards them. The hatred feeling may translate into aggression and these children may engage in activities that disregard the criminal justice system ending up taking part in offending behaviours. In his study, Murray and Farrington (2005) found out that approximately 35 per cent of American children who have experienced their parent’s arrest end up developing negative perceptions towards the criminal justice system. Any relationship is strained when there is some sort of separation. For children with imprisoned parents, they have limited contact and feel ashamed for being associated with a criminal (Boswell, 2002). This can make it difficult for the relationship between the children and parent to be retained. Visits to the prison are the only way a child can maintain the relationship with an imprisoned parent but this may be impossible. Factors such as distance, family demands, and unwillingness and prison regulations can prevent regular contact between a child and an imprisoned parent (Murray and Farrington, 2005). Often, other indirect communication channels such as telephone calls and letters are used. Some have questioned whether it is a good idea for children to maintain a close relationship with imprisoned parents. Research has suggested that incarceration of parents will still have a diverse impact of children even with maintenance of relationship (Murray and Farrington, 2005). Correction systems often affect the effort of maintaining the relationship between imprisoned parents and their children (MacKenzie, 2000). Correction systems are responsible for maintaining community safety and at the same time providing human treatment to prisoners (Stinchcomb, 2011). The Australian correction systems are primarily aimed at confining. Parents with young children are not given enough time to spend with them and this often destroys their relationships. The current correction system is said to having disregard for prisoners with family responsibilities. These systems dehumanize prisoners and deny them of freedom to spend with their parents (MacKenzie, 2000). One reason for offending is lack of close relationship with the parents or caregivers. Children with imprisoned parents lack the opportunity to experience parental love and support due to separation. However, this can be resolved through frequent meeting and visitations. For this to be possible, the correction system of Australia and other countries needs to take into consideration the needs of children of imprisoned parents (MacKenzie, 2000). These children should be given an opportunity to see their parents as frequent as possible in order to avoid future offending. Boswell (2002) has suggested that concluding that children with imprisoned parents tend to offend more than the normal population is incorrect. It is possible for imprisoned parents to bring about positive influences on their children. It is not hard for prisoners who have failed to be good citizens can succeed to being good caregivers. Most at times, prison can turn out to be a good opportunity for parents to become better caregivers. Orison can teach parents to be more caring, concerned and informed (Boswell, 2002). In addition, some children from imprisoned parents often take the situation as a lesion of life to never ever be involved in situations that may result to similar result. Such children may grow up to be respectful of the criminal justice system. In such situations, it is incorrect to conclude that children with imprisoned parents are likely to offend (Boswell, 2002). In addition, there are many other factors that may increase the risk of offending other than convicted parents such as peer pressure, environmental influences, poverty, and cognitive factors among others (Lilly, Cullen and Ball, 2011). Due to this, every child is exposed to different factors that may increase the risk of offending. For instance, children lacking financial support and those who associate with criminals are at high risk of offending. However, parental imprisonment tends to create high risk factors for offending. Parental imprisonment may lead to low social status and lack of financial support especially due to imprisonment of breadwinner (MacKenzie, 2000). Also, parental imprisonment may lead to disruption of attachment and family destruction which contribute to offending behaviours. According to behavioural theory, behaviours are shaped by past experiences. When a child observe aggressive and offending behaviours from a parent, it is likely that he or she will follow the footsteps. Conclusion In conclusion, children are adversely affected by parental imprisonment. When parents are imprisoned, children may feel neglected and this may destroy their relationship. Lack of child-parent relationship is detrimental to children and may result to antisocial behaviour which may increase the likelihood of offending. In addition, children with imprisoned parents often face stigma from society and are alienated from the rest of the children. This leads to development of feelings of rejection and aggression. In addition, when a parent goes to prison, he or she may leave the children in an environment characterised by poverty and family instability. These factors contribute to high levels of offending behaviours. In addition, as a result of strict correction systems in many countries, children are not given enough chances to visit their parents in prison and this may result to disruption of attachment that may result to future criminal behaviours. Generally, parental imprisonment creates factors that increase the risk of future offending among children. Therefore, it is right to conclude that children with incarcerated parents are at high risk of offending that ‘normal’ population. .References MacKenzie, D.L. (2000). Evidence-based Corrections,” Crime and Delinquency 46 (4): 457–471. Stinchcomb, J.B. (2011). Corrections: Foundations for the future, (2nd Ed). New York: Routledge. Lilly, J. R., Cullen, F. T., & Ball, R. A. (2011). Criminological theory. Context and consequences. 5th ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. Bor, William, Tara R. McGee, and Abigail, A (2004). Early Risk Factors for Adolescent Antisocial Behaviour: An Australian Longitudinal Study. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 38:365–72. Murray, J. (2005). The effects of imprisonment on families and children of prisoners” in A. Liebling & S. Maruna (eds.) The effects of imprisonment, p.442 Murray, J. and Farrington, P (2005). Parental imprisonment: effects on boys’ antisocial behaviour and delinquency through the life-course. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, Vol. 46, No. 12, pp.6-7. Boswell, G. (2002). Imprisoned Fathers: The Children’s View. The Howard Journal, Vol. 41 No. 1, pp. 14-26. Phillips, S. et al., (2006). Disentangling the Risks: Parent Criminal Justice Involvement and Children’s Exposure to Family Risks. Criminology and Public Policy, vol. 5, no. 4, pp. 677-702. Hayward, A. and D. DePanfilis, (2007). Foster Children with an Incarcerated Parent: Predictors of Reunification,” Children and Youth Services Review, vol. 29, pp. 1320-1334. Read More