NCJ Number
161984
Editor(s)
K Gabel,
D Johnston
Date Published
1995
Length
346 pages
Annotation
Twenty papers address various issues related to the needs of children of incarcerated parents, with attention to the services needed to ensure that such children do not repeat the behaviors of their parents.
Abstract
Four chapters discuss the plight of mothers and fathers in jails and prisons and the impact of their incarceration on their children. These chapters note that imprisonment strips offenders of parental power and authority, but they still have concerns about the well-being of their children and their desire for parent-child reunification. Incarcerated parents of both sexes are most powerless in the areas of parental decisionmaking and parent-child contact. Both need services that empower them as parents and increase their parental decisionmaking capabilities. Two chapters focus on the effects of parental incarceration. The effects are distinguished by age group. One paper addresses the post-traumatic stress reactions in children of imprisoned mothers. Three papers on the care and placement of the inmates' children consider inmates' children in foster care and parent- child visitation in the jail or prison. Three papers on legal issues discuss the termination of parental rights and the implications of such an action for the children of incarcerated parents. Four papers consider a variety of interventions designed to help enhance the positive development of inmates' children, and four papers consider policy issues pertinent to the provision of effective services for inmates as parents and their children. Chapter references and a subject index