¶ … Parental Incarceration on Children in the Welfare System
In 1998, there was an estimated 200,000 children in the United States that had an imprisoned mother and more than 1.6 million with an imprisoned father (Seymour 1998). However, no one knows for certain how many children in the U.S. have an incarcerated parent (Seymour 1998). The Center for Children of Incarcerated Parents uses a formula for calculating these numbers by multiplying the number of currently incarcerated women by.75, the average number of incarcerated women with children, by 2.4, the average number of children per incarcerated mother; then multiply.56, the average percentage of incarcerated men with children, by 2.0, the average number of children per incarcerated father, and add the two sums together (Seymour 1998).
With the incarcerated population in the United States growing by an average of 6.5% each year, the number of children with parents in prison will only continue to increase (Seymour 1998). The rise of incarceration rate of women is of special concern due to the fact that women are most often the sole caregivers of their children (Seymour 1998). The number of women in prison has tripled in the United States since 1985, and on any given day, there are more than 100,000 women being held in jails and prisons throughout the country, with six percent of them pregnant when entering prison (Seymour 1998). Moreover, more than 53% of the children whose mothers are imprisoned are cared for by grandmothers, suggesting the extreme need for additional research on the social, economic, and health impact of this phenomenon on family caregivers, especially grandmothers (Ruiz 2002). Parental incarceration, and the crimes and arrests that precede it, cause chaos in the lives of the children involve, including traumatic separations and erratic shift from one caregiver to another, moreover, most of these children live in poverty before, during and after their parents' incarceration (Seymour 1998).
The number of children affected by parental incarceration can be only estimated, the true scope of the problem is uncertain due to the fact that few reliable statistics exist (Seymour 1998). Generally, "law enforcement does not gather information about the children of arrested adults and correctional institutions do not ask prisoners for specific information about their children" (Seymour 1998). Moreover, there is no specific agency or system in charge of collecting...
Imprisonment on Individuals, Families, and Communities Incarceration and its Impacts "Research has shown that the American prison system -- and the "get tough" approach to crime that has helped increase the incarceration rates -- impacts just the entire society, especially poor communities…" (Shelden, 2004, p. 6). Incarceration certainly has an impact -- mostly negative -- on the individual that is incarcerated. But what about the family of the incarcerated person? And what
Moreover, it is unclear whether Jim has attempted to reestablish any meaningful contact with his children; rather, his entire focus has been on becoming a better person. While there is certainly nothing wrong with that goal in and of itself (it is, after all, a universal human quality), he appears to have pursued this goal to the total exclusion of making any substantive reparations to his family. Finally, it is
Violence Against Children The structure of violence as related to children directly correlates to their perceived socio-demographic risk. Several factors directly relate to the likelihood that a child will be subjected to violence at some point during their lives. Social, economic, demographic and physical factors all have a dramatic impact a child's development, either positive or negative and these factors also influence whether or not a child is more or less
NRS311 – Life Stage Considerations: Child, Adolescent & Family Health Assessment Task Two: Child Protection Case Study Introduction Young people and children are the most vulnerable groups in society. As a Registered nurse in NSW, I can identify, consult others, and respond to situations where a young person or a child is at risk of harm. Some of the common reasons that predispose young people and children to risk include family and domestic
Other researchers have also found that when the foster care placement arrangements were long-term or permanent, the outcomes were not significantly injurious to the children so placed (Barth & Berry, 1987; Smokowski & Wodarski, 1996); nevertheless, a substantial percentage of children who experience foster care placement may already possess significant physical, psychological, and/or emotional injuries. In these cases, such children are much more likely to remain in the foster
Four years later, the average federal drug sentence for African-Americans was 49% higher." (Vagins and McCurdy, 2006) Additionally stated by Vagins and McCurdy is: "In 2000 there were more African-American men in prison and jails than there were in higher education, leading scholars to conclude that our crime policies are a major contributor to the disruption of the African-American family. The effects of mandatory minimums not only contribute to
Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.
Get Started Now