red dot icon
Journal Article Since the mid-1970s the U.S. imprisonment rate has increased roughly fivefold. As Christopher Wildeman and Bruce Western explain, the effects of this sea change in the imprisonment rate--commonly called mass imprisonment or the prison boom--have been concentrated among those most likely to form fragile families: poor and minority men with little schooling.Imprisonment diminishes the earnings of adult men, compromises their health, reduces familial resources, and contributes to family breakup. It also adds to the deficits of poor children, thus ensuring that the effects of imprisonment on…
While incarceration penalizes lawbreakers, it also has unintended punishing effects on the children left behind, often causing stress and family instability that may contribute to challenges to children's well-being immediately and over the course of their lives. (Author abstract)
red dot icon
Journal Article Prior research indicates that assuming family roles, such as parent or spouse, can aid in the transition from prison to the community and has been linked to positive outcomes after a period of confinement. Using data from a longitudinal study of men returning to the community after incarceration, this study examines how the relationship between fathers and their children immediately after release may impact aspects of fathers' lives that are important to a successful reentry transition in the first year, such as employment, abstinence from substance abuse, and mental health. Analyses show…
Over the last 25 years, the number of incarcerated persons has quadrupled. The number of children with a father in prison increased 77% from 1991-2007 and the number with a mother in prison increased 131% in the same time. Incarceration of a parent is very much a family matter. It has long-range economic, emotional and social consequences that affect prisoners and families, and that can affect children's well-being. Children of the incarcerated are one of the most at-risk, yet least visible, populations of children. Data about families affected by incarceration is fraught with major data gaps…
