NCJ Number
236784
Date Published
March 2011
Length
23 pages
Annotation
This Arizona statewide study of children whose parents are incarcerated was conducted to provide a reliable estimate of the number of such children, as well as to develop and implement a clearly defined strategy for reporting such data annually.
Abstract
Based on interviews with 300 men and 300 women currently incarcerated in Arizona prisons, researchers estimated that there are 53,067 minor children of parents incarcerated in Arizona's State prison system. This includes approximately 46,873 minor children of incarcerated fathers and 6,194 minor children of incarcerated mothers. The estimated number of minor children with an incarcerated parent is equivalent to 3 percent of all youth under the age of 18 living in the State. Although 3 percent is a relatively low percentage, it represents a subset of the youth population in the State who are at greater risk for negative outcomes. The challenge for Arizona is to develop programs that target this at-risk group in an effort to provide positive influences that can prevent antisocial behavior. Phase 1 of the project involved a review of institutional records from a random sample of 600 men and 600 women prisoners in custody during July 2009. These data were reviewed in order to identify the percentage of prisoners who had dependents and the average number of dependents. Researchers then reviewed case files for a subsample of 300 men and 300 women prisoners who were classified by data-management records as having at least 1 dependent. This phase revealed the extent to which the institutional record measures of dependents was a proxy for minor children. Phase 2 of the study involved original data collection by researchers with experience in collecting sensitive information from imprisoned populations. Face-to-face interviews were conducted with 300 incarcerated fathers and 300 incarcerated mothers in order to determine the number of minor children in this representative sample of male and female inmates. 1 table and 7 references