‘You’ll never understand until it happens to you’: Exploring the impact on children and young people (CYP) of having a household family member in prison

• In Event: Generational Sentences: Childhood, Justice, and Family Separation

Abstract

Background: It is estimated that at least one child in every UK school is affected by parental imprisonment. This number is even greater when we consider imprisonment of a wider family member (e.g. siblings or grandparents). Children and young people (CYP) who experience familial imprisonment are at greater risk of disrupted attachments with their imprisoned family member as well as wider family members and are also more likely to navigate economic instability and face poorer educational and health outcomes than their peers.

Methods: 19 CYP in Northern England and Scotland with a family member in prison took part in a series of longitudinal interviews (up to three over the course of nine months). Creative approaches (including narrated drawing and ‘worry mapping’) were used to explore the effects of familial imprisonment on the lives and wellbeing of CYP. Methods of co-production were then used to produce creative outputs from project findings.

Findings: CYP described the impact of concealment and associated stress on their physical and emotional lives, and the techniques they employed to avoid and navigate stigma around proximity to the criminal justice system. From the findings we have developed the ‘Three Cs Framework’ for improving support, and reducing negative outcomes, for children and young people with a family member in prison by redesigning policy and practice to be: Child-centred, Consistent and Compassionate. This framework recommends changes, at various institutional levels, to ensure better support for CYP at all stages of contact with the wider criminal justice system and particularly within prisons.

Conclusions and next steps: Our work highlights the benefits of using creative methods and coproduction of outputs and the importance of CYP voices and experiences being central to research that concerns them. We will also share extracts from our co-produced film and artwork during our presentation.

Authors

• Naomi Griffin, Newcastle University

• Steph Scott, Newcastle University

• Lisa Crowe, Newcastle University

• Tracy Shildrick, Newcastle University

• Shona Minson, University of Oxford

• Nancy Loucks, Families Outside, Scotland (UK)