NCJ Number
217476
Journal
Criminology & Criminal Justice: An International Journal Volume: 7 Issue: 1 Dated: February 2007 Pages: 55-81
Date Published
February 2007
Length
27 pages
Annotation
Drawing on survey research within an adult prison in England, this study explored children’s circumstances following their father’s incarceration.
Abstract
Results indicated that there were 191 children among the 147 male prisoner participants. Most children were either living with their father prior to his incarceration (43 percent) or had recent contact with him. Calculations of the distance between each child’s home and the prison indicated an average distance of 46.8 miles. Participants reported that 74 percent of children and 52 percent of their caregivers did not know about the father’s imprisonment. Only 29 percent of children were expected to visit their father in prison. The analysis suggested that distance was only one of a variety of obstacles preventing children from visiting their fathers in prison. The findings revealed that the number of children experiencing paternal imprisonment in England and Wales was similar to the number of children experiencing parental divorce. While legal measures exist to protect the best interests of children during divorce proceedings, no such legal safeguards exist for the children of incarcerated adults. Social and criminal justice policies need to be developed to reduce the harmful impact of parental incarceration. Such policies should focus on increasing the amount and quality of contact between prisoners and their children as well as easing the emotional and financial difficulties caused when parents are incarcerated. Participants were 147 adult male prisoners who were recruited from the total population of prison receptions to the HMP Bedford prison over a 3-month period between February 1 and April 30, 2004. Participants were interviewed regarding their children’s circumstances and participant’s prison induction records were examined to identify their sentence category. Future research should focus on understanding the scope and effects of parental imprisonment on children in order to facilitate the development of appropriate legal and social interventions. Tables, notes, references