Parental Incarceration: Does Having Minor Children Have an Effect on Recidivism?

• In Event: Correlates of Recidivism in the Context of Reentry

Abstract

Many individuals who are incarcerated are also parents, and most are eventually released. Parents returning home from prison encounter unique challenges as they readjust to parenting outside of prison. Existing research has produced mixed results with some studies suggesting that minor children are a protective factor promoting desistance, while others indicate parenting produces strain and consequently results in recidivism. Furthermore, given that mothers are often considered primary caregivers of children, incarcerated mothers experience their incarceration differently compared to incarcerated fathers, and it is surmised that this would have an impact on their reentry. To examine these issues, I use data obtained through structured interviews with 952 inmates housed in the Arizona Department of Corrections. Preliminary results show that having at least one minor child does not significantly influence reentry outcomes for parents as compared to nonparents. In addition, the interaction between minor children and gender was also not significant. This suggests that these two distinct pathways of parenting—strain or protective—may be competing with one another to influence reentry outcomes.

Author

• Matthew Gricius, Arizona State University