“I've got to break the cycle for my son, so he doesn't go to juvie like his pops”: Interrupting intergenerational patterns of incarceration

Abstract

All my life I had known my dad had been locked up multiple times. I remember visiting him in county when I was like four. I had always told myself I would not get locked up or in any legal trouble at all. But then I got caught smoking and that's when it all started. I didn't know my dad smoked until after I had gotten in trouble. Then my dad told me I was following in his steps. Especially after he found out my girl was pregnant. My dad had my oldest brother when he was 17. So far, I have followed most of his steps, but I want to break the cycle. I don't want my daughter to know what mistakes I've made. I want to show her my achievements and do well.(John, Solano County Juvenile Hall, 2014).The epigraph from John is an example of intergenerational patterns of incarceration, a common and harmful phenomenon in the United States, particularly in urban, lower-income, communities of color

Exposure to parental incarceration and subsequent illicit drug use: A review of the literature

“…For children of incarcerated individuals, the drug use may be accompanied by negative mental and physical health outcomes (Luk et al, 2022) and high‐risk behaviours, including truancy (Nichols et al, 2016) and perpetrating violence (Muftić & Smith, 2018). The association between these behaviours and drug use can result in increased risk of incarceration in adolescence and adulthood, as patterns of incarceration transmit generationally (Vanderpyl et al, 2022).…”