Co-parenting in families with an imprisoned parent: A systematic review

Objectives: We explored the literature to investigate the main results of research into the practice of co-parenting in families with an imprisoned parent.Moreover, we aimed to point out the theoretical approaches used to analyze coparenting in the case of parental detention and the methods by which co-parenting is recognized and measured. Method: We used the EBSCO platform to explore the databases PsycINFO and Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection.First, we researched parenting OR co-parenting AND (incarcerated mother OR incarcerated father); the next search was for family AND (incarceration OR prison OR jail). Then we searched for fathers OR mothers AND (incarceration OR prison OR jail), and the final search attempt was for wives OR partners OR husbands AND (incarceration OR prison OR jail). Results: After applying the inclusion and exclusion criteria, we selected 14 studies for this literature review.Conclusions: The number of studies about co-parenting in families dealing with parental detention is limited. Most of what is known about the co-caregiving system or alliance and children's adjustment has come from studies of families with young children. The methodological procedures used to explore the relationships between incarcerated parents, children, and home caregivers were individually focused. What emerged from this literature review is the need to recognize the triadic nature of family relationships and therefore the need to adopt procedures that would allow us to analyze the triadic processes characterizing a family system.

Reducing Trauma from Behind Bars: Enhancing Parent-Child Attachment Through a Digitally Distributed Reading Program

Incarceration impacts families by disrupting routine attachment, creating negative consequences for both the parent and child. This article examines the use of an intervention videoing incarcerated parents reading to their children and then delivering those videos to improve child outcomes. Using a mixed-methods approach, a total of 587 surveys were completed by program participants and analyzed for parental perceptions of the program effectiveness. The intervention appeared to increase the frequency of correspondence between the parent and child, improved the sense of parent-child relationship, and increased a sense of involvement, attachment, and connectedness.

Prisoners

This chapter provides a public health analysis of imprisonment (the loss of personal freedom for short or long periods—including life sentences): the individual and population effects upon morbidity and mortality including suicide and homicide, drug addiction, and mental health. These effects impact the life course of former prisoners and their families, employment, and life expectancy, and have intergenerational impacts upon the children of incarcerated parents. While international data are presented for comparison of the magnitude and characteristics of imprisonment worldwide, this chapter examines the United States most closely. America is an atypical but instructive case study: the nation with the world’s largest number of prisoners and highest rate of imprisonment. Mass incarceration is not seen in other developed democratic nations but the case of America represents an important natural experiment, demonstrating precisely how high rates of imprisonment can become socially ‘toxic’, with damaging consequences for population health, societal well-being, and human rights.

Challenges Associated with Parenting While Incarcerated: A Review

Of the 2.5 million people who are incarcerated in the United States, over half are parents. While it is well-established that incarceration has a detrimental impact on the children of incarcerated parents, less is known regarding the psychological impact of incarceration on parents themselves. The present review summarizes existing literature on the impact of incarceration on parents retrieved via online databases. Published articles were classified according to their overall themes and summarized. Pertinent studies include the psychological and emotional consequences of incarceration on parents, the experience of parenting while incarcerated, including barriers to parenting, the utility of parenting program interventions during periods of incarceration, and how these results differ for mothers and fathers. While the existing evidence introduces these issues, there is a need for additional research on the impact of incarceration on parents. These areas for future research as well as clinical implications are discussed.

An Assessment of Prisoner Reentry, Legal Financial Obligations and Family Financial Support: A Focus on Fathers

Scholars have found that family support is an important facilitator of successful reentry from prison to the community. At the same time, they have argued that owing court-ordered fines or fees, also called legal financial obligations (LFOs), can act as an additional barrier to reentry, especially for parents. There remains a need to test how LFOs impact the financial support formerly incarcerated parents receive from their families. The current study responds to this gap by employing logistic regression analyses of the Serious and Violent Offender Reentry Initiative (SVORI) data to test whether owing court fees is associated with formerly incarcerated fathers’ (1) perceptions of available financial support from family and (2) receipt of financial support from family. We find that owing court fees is not associated with perceptions of available financial support. However, owing court fees has a positive, statistically significant association with receiving financial support from family during the first three months after prison release. This relationship remains after accounting for whether the person owes child support or sees their children monthly. Our results suggest that LFOs may create a greater need for financial support among formerly incarcerated fathers, making the financial challenges of reentry a consequence not just for those who were incarcerated but for their loved ones as well.