From Providing Support to Adolescent Children with Incarcerated Parents

from Providing Support to Adolescent Children with Incarcerated Parents By Ann Adalist-Estrin, M.S.

There are over 2 million prisoners in the United States, with many more on probation, parole or under house arrest. This translates to approximately 7 million children with parents under some form of correctional supervision. Just less than half of these children (42%) are between the ages of 10 and 17 (Travis, Cincotta, & Solomon, 2003).

Whenever someone goes to prison, his or her family members become invisible victims. For children, losing parents to incarceration can be traumatic and cause severe disruptions in their development and in their lives. There are few programs to assist family members of prisoners, or to train those in education, health care, social services, or communities of faith to respond effectively to the issues that youth with incarcerated parents face.

Effects of Parental Incarceration

Interviews with thousands of teens, their incarcerated parents and their caregivers (Adalist-Estrin & Mustin, 2003; Adalist-Estrin & Lee, 2004; Adalist-Estrin, 2005), combined with earlier studies (Center for the Children of Incarcerated Parents, 1992; Bloom & Steinhart, 1993) build a knowledge base for working with children of incarcerated parents.

What we know about youth with incarcerated parents is that they are first and foremost children, navigating the stormy waters of adolescence. But youth with incarcerated parents also have to cope with a unique experience that sets them apart from other teens. Three factors contribute to the difference, often causing or intensifying anxiety and trauma for this population of youth.

1. The stigma and shame surrounding parental crime, arrest, and incarceration.

2. The conspiracy of silence that most families of incarcerated members engage in as a coping strategy.

3. The loyalty conflicts that emerge from the complexity of the families' circumstances and relationships.

Additionally, at a time when support is most needed, most youth and their families report that people seem to withdraw from them, judge them as "guilty by association," or express difficulty in understanding their feelings for the incarcerated parent. Even in communities heavily affected by incarceration, families of prisoners fear judgment by others. They may even appear boastful as they defend against the shame. This boastfulness can further alienate teachers, clergy, coaches, and others who could possibly offer support.

Historically, some programs that have focused on responding to the needs of children of prisoners do so from a child-rescue perspective believing that children are better off without their parents and so it isn't necessary to address feelings about their parents' incarceration. Alternatively, youth with incarcerated parents are often viewed in the literature (Lieberman et al., in press) as a discrete group influenced solely by the parental incarceration and doomed to follow in their parents' footsteps.

Seeing the sons and daughters of incarcerated parents as "just children" increases their need to be silent and secretive. On the other hand, identifying and defining them by the incarceration of a parent increases the stigma. Both perspectives make it difficult for family members of the incarcerated to talk about their experiences or ask for assistance.

Youth and their families will experience parental incarceration in varied ways depending on pre-incarceration relationships, the nature of the crime, and the child's individual coping skills and resources. There are, however, predictable aspects of parental incarceration experienced by many adolescent children of the incarcerated:

• Many youth have experienced multiple separations from their incarcerated parent.

• They have often lived through previous parental imprisonments and endure environments that may include addictions, the chaos of financial instability, caregiver stress, failing schools, and communities which lack resources.

• They may have to change residences, schools, and friendships as a result of the incarceration.

• They are often expected to assume adult roles with caregivers and siblings. • They may experience economic distress and hardship.

• They are often left for long periods without supervision.

• They suffer from ambivalence about their incarcerated parent.

• They feel shame, and fear being identified as "just like your …”

Conclusion

There are approximately 7 million American children who have parents under correctional supervision and nearly half of them are in, or approaching, adolescence (Travis, Cincotta, & Solomon, 2003). We can predict then, that nearly all of the nation's programs and services for youth will at some time in the next decade find these youth and their families in their midst. The circumstances and lives of this group of youth can be both similar and diverse. Their needs are both obvious and hidden. Their experiences are likely to include loss, prejudice, and trauma. Their ranks will include scholars and truants; the reclusive, the reckless, and the resourceful. There will be those who successfully navigate the stormy waters of their lives, those who struggle, and those who are drowning in a sea of chaos and despair.

Responding to the needs of these youth is a challenge to youth-serving agencies and programs. However, many can and will be able to identify the needs and provide appropriate services or responses. Children of incarcerated parents are indeed children of promise. They need communities that will promise to support them as they journey into adulthood. http://sks.sirs.com/cgi-bin/hst-portal-res?id=SKS17224H-0-6367