Parenting Juvenile Prisoners: The Challenges of Parenting beyond the Prison Walls

• In Event: Institutional Responses to Troubled and/or Marginalized Young People and their Families

Abstract

Familial support has been frequently linked to improved re-entry and desistance outcomes amongst offenders. So far neglected in juvenile justice research has been an assessment of whether, and if so how, support is deployed by parents to assist their convicted children. This provision of support often rests upon families, many of whom have experienced cumulative life adversities, pooling together resources to assist offenders as best they can during the sentence and into re-entry. Drawing on a large-scale study of parents whose children have been incarcerated, it is argued that the provision of support can place families in more disadvantaged positions emotionally and materially, with specific variations by class, ethnicity and gender of parent. Examination of specific hardships are documented, ranging from breakdown in personal relationships, physical and mental health impacts, to suicide attempts. Implications for prison resettlement are assessed in light of these findings.

Author

• Daniel McCarthy, University of Surrey, UK