Violence Exposure Among Children of Incarcerated Mothers

Abstract

Social workers are becoming increasingly aware of the unique experiences faced by children of incarcerated parents. Little is known, however, about their experiences prior to their parents being incarcerated. Using data from a broader study of incarcerated women, we examined women's accounts of their children's exposure to violence prior to maternal incarceration. Open-ended interviews addressed family and relationship history, physical and psychological victimization, lifetime delinquency and crime, and interactions with service and justice systems. Interviews were analyzed using ATLAS/ti software and a grounded-theory approach. The emergent themes revealed a myriad of consequences experienced by the children, including child witnessing of violence, emotional sequelae, bodily harm from abuse and neglect, sexual abuse, and birth defects from prenatal violence. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

Children of incarcerated parents: Insights to addressing a growing public health concern in Australia

“…In total, six papers provide insight into the experiences of children affected by the incarceration of parents, two solely from the perspective of the children of incarcerated parents (Beck & Jones, 2007;Nesmith & Ruhland, 2008), one paper examines teachers experiences of the children of incarcerated parents (Dallaire et al, 2010), one paper describes caregiver experiences (Nesmith & Ruhland, 2011), one presents incarcerated mothers' views about their children (DeHart & Altshuler, 2009), while the last paper outlines multiple perspectives (Shlafer & Poehlmann, 2010). Three papers were retrieved that provided qualitative insight into interventions for children whose parents had been incarcerated (Laakso & Nygaard, 2012;Phillips & O'Brien, 2012;Shlafer et al, 2009a).…”

“…The papers comprised six qualitative study designs (Beck & Jones, 2007;DeHart & Altshuler, 2009;Laakso & Nygaard, 2012;Nesmith & Ruhland, 2008Phillips & O'Brien, 2012) and three mixed method designs (Dallaire, Ciccone, & Wilson, 2010;Shlafer & Poehlmann, 2010;Shlafer, Poehlmann, Coffino, & Hanneman, 2009a). A narrative synthesis approach was conducted as per guidelines (Popay et al, 2006).…”

“…Adverse effects on children Stigma and discrimination (Beck, 2007), (Nesmith, 2008), (Shlafer, 2010) (Nesmith, 2011), (Dallaire, 2010) Children punished (Beck, 2007;Nesmith, 2008) Grief and loss (Nesmith, 2008) *Upset parent (Nesmith, 2008) *Parental release (Shlafer, 2010) *Violence on release (Nesmith, 2008) *Effect of violence (Nesmith, 2011) Violence, abuse (DeHart, 2009), (Beck, 2007), *Work hard, take responsibility (Beck, 2007) *Emotional disconnection (Beck, 2007), (Shlafer, 2010) Focus on school and social activities (Beck, 2007) (Nesmith, 2008) *Dream (Nesmith, 2011), (Shlafer, 2010) *Dependant on age, timing, parent incarcerated (Dallaire, 2010) Stress *Trust and stress (Beck, 2007), (Shlafer, 2010) *Emotional and financial stress (Nesmith, 2008) Early intervention program (Phillips, 2012 over the loss of their parent as well as the loss of family members whose deaths had been caused by their now incarcerated parent. Grief and loss accompanied by stigma was on-going for one child who described the death of his mother and siblings in a fire caused by his father, and now many years later, currently still resides with his paternal grandmother across the road from the house that burnt down (Beck & Jones, 2007).…”

“…Children were described by their mothers as becoming physically aggressive -the result of living in a violent home environment (DeHart & Altshuler, 2009), while other caregivers mentioned drug use and early sexual activity of children as a release from their problems (Shlafer & Poehlmann, 2010). Fighting at home and at school was common with teachers reporting bullying, arguing, defiance as well as withdrawal and development regression for children aged 5 to 15 years (Shlafer & Poehlmann, 2010).…”

The Right to a Family Environment for Children of Prisoners

“…Although parent incarceration per se does not necessarily contribute to adverse outcomes for children of prisoners (DeHart & Altshuler, 2009), the continuing severe stress that many families experience increases the likelihood of problems.…”