Over the last 30 years the US has seen an unprecedented rise in incarceration - over 600 percent since 1975. With 2.3 million adults behind bars in 2005, the US now has the largest imprisoned population and highest incarceration rate in the world. Another 4.2 million are under criminal justice supervision in the community - on parole or probation - and another 10 million adults are arrested and held in custody for at least 24 hours in city and county jails. While they are only 25 percent of the US population, Blacks and Hispanics constitute >80 percent of the incarcerated (Drucker, 2005). These statistics are most compelling when women and children are considered. Since 85 percent of those incarcerated are parents of minor children, it is estimated that 2.5 million American children currently have one or both parents in jail or prison. There has been a particularly explosive increase in the number of incarcerated women: in the 1990s alone, the population of incarcerated woman increased by 400 percent (U.S. Department of Justice, 1999). More than 75 percent of women in prison are mothers. And, in contrast to imprisoned men, most incarcerated women (65 percent) live with and have custody of their children at the time they enter prison. Yet, despite the potential impact of maternal incarceration, there has been very little systematic study of the psychological consequences for their children. There is no coherent theory or body of evidence to inform preventive or therapeutic interventions for these children to reduce adverse impacts. Clearly, with limited funds for intervention, we must be able to target the most effective and propitious times. This R01 application is in response to the recent PA-04-075: Mental Health Consequences of Violence and Trauma. The main objective of this investigation is to understand the impact, over time, of maternal incarceration on children's mental health. We propose to recruit a sample of children (ages 10-14) immediately following the arrest of their co-resident mother. This sample (N=280), representative of all incarcerated mothers living in the South Bronx, will be obtained through collaborative arrangements with the Bronx Criminal Court in New York City and the Bronx Defenders, a well-established public defender organization serving 12,000 clients per year. A control Sample (N=280) of age-gender matched children whose mothers have never been incarcerated will be recruited in the same geographical area.
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| Akesson, Bree; Smyth, J McGregor; Mandell, Donald J et al. (2012) Parental involvement with the criminal justice system and the effects on their children: a collaborative model for researching vulnerable families. Soc Work Public Health 27:148-64 |
