# Presentation: 344026

## Incarcerated Parents and Their Elementary School Aged Children 

- J. Mark Eddy, Ph.D.
- Oregon Social Learning Center
- Eugene, OR

## Slide 2

## Slide 3

## Slide 4

## Inmate Age

## Knowledge Base

- Case studies, clinical reports, advocacy articles
- A few surveys of inmates
- A few studies of children
- Longitudinal studies on antisocial behavior
- No longitudinal reports on parent incarceration to child incarceration

## Developmental Context

- Tremendous variation
- Interaction: none to extensive
- Environment: stable to chaotic
- Most attention: Accumulation of risk
- Poverty
- Exposure to substance abuse
- Exposure to domestic violence
- Abuse, neglect
- Instability in living situation
- Instability in caregivers

## Immediate Impacts

- Anxiety
- Depression
- Feelings of anger, shame, guilt
- Aggression, acting out
- PTSD symptoms

## Enduring Impacts

- Delinquency
- Psychiatric disorders
- PTSD
- Eating Disorders
- Academic failure

## Life Long Impacts:Top 5 Predictors of Violent or Serious DelinquencyAge 6 to 11 Years

- Child offenses
- Child substance use
- Child gender (male)
- Family socioeconomic status
**Parent antisocial behavior**
***From Lipsey & Derzon (1998) synthesis.***

## Strength of Relationship

- The children of the most antisocial parents are 3 to 6 times more likely to exhibit violent or serious delinquency during late adolescence than the children of the least antisocial parents.
- There is no evidence for the oft repeated statement that children of incarcerated parents are 6 times more likely than their peers to be incarcerated as adults.

## Summary

- Some children adjust well, and may need little, if any, intervention.
- Others may benefit from some additional support and/or therapeutic intervention.
- Others may need intensive work around issues of separation, psychological problems related to trauma, abuse, and neglect.

## The Oregon Parent Child Study

- Funded by the National Institute of Mental Health

## Acknowledgements

- 3,000 families
- Funding
- State of Oregon Legislature
- Oregon Department of Corrections
- McConnell Clark Foundation
- National Institute of Mental Health
- Partners
- Oregon Department of Corrections Director’s Office
- CCCF, OSCI, SCI, CRCI, OSP, and OWCC
- Non-profit Pathfinders of Oregon
- Non-profit Children’s Justice Alliance

## Team

- J. Mark Eddy, Ph.D., clinical psychologist
- Charles Martinez, Ph.D., clinical psychologist
- Rex Newton, Ph.D., prison psychologist
- Leslie Leve, Ph.D., developmental psychologist
- Tracy Schiffmann, M.S., instructional designer
- Kevin Moore, Ph.D., educational psychologist
- John B. Reid, Ph.D., clinical psychologist
- Dana Foney, Ph.D., developmental psychologist
- Danita Herrera, project coordinator

## Parenting Inside Out (PIO)

- Created through a researcher-practitioner collaboration
- Version of evidence-based OSLC Parent Management Training
- Groups of 10 to 15 parents
- 3 hours three times per week for 12 weeks
- Delivered by system-embedded non-profit
- Lay coaches, trained and supervised
- Intervention paid for by the Oregon DOC

## PIO Content

- Communication
- Child development
- Encouragement
- Monitoring and supervision
- Problem solving
- Discipline
- Family legacy
- Couple relationships
- Transition home

## PIO Process

- Basic structure for each lesson
- Brief lectures, videos
- Small and large group exercises
- Role plays
- Homework and portfolio creation
- Individual meetings
- Materials sent home to caregivers
- Optional intensive caregiving exercises
- Graduation ceremony

## Design 

|  | White |  | Minority |  |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|  | PIO | Control | PIO | Control |
| Men | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 |
| Women | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 |

## Eligible Incarcerated Parents

- At least one eligible child
- Ability to participate in Oregon DOC education and training programs
- Approximately six months until release
- Have contact information for caregiver

## Eligible Children

- Middle childhood age
- Biological, adopted, or step
- Incarcerated parent has legal right to contact
- Incarcerated parent served in some parenting role prior
- Incarcerated parent expects to be involved in some parenting role after release

## Oregon Demographics

|  | General
Population | Prison Population |
| --- | --- | --- |
|  | 3,641,056 | 12,875 (0.3%) |
| Male |   50% |   93% |
| Race/ethnicity |  |  |
|    White |    82% |   77% |
|    African Am. |      2 |     9 |
|    Latino |    10    |   10 |
|    Native Am. |      1 |     2 |
|    Asian Am. |      4 |     1 |

## Parent Demographics

|  | Men | Women |
| --- | --- | --- |
| N | 45 | 55 |
| Age | 32 (6) | 31 (6) |
| Race/ethnicity |  |  |
|   White | 64% | 60% |
|   African Am. | 13 |   9 |
|   Latino  |   0 | 11 |
|   Native Am.   |   9 |   7 |
|   Multi | 13 |   9 |

## Conviction

|  | Men | Women |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Person Crimes |  80% |  29% |
| Types | (41) | (71) |
|   Assault |  26% |  13% |
|   ID Theft |    0 |  18 |
|   Theft I |    0 |  13 |
|   Del/Man Sub |    9 |  11 |
|   Del Sub Sch |    2 |    7 |
|   Un Use Veh |    4 |    9 |
|  Sentence | 3.2 (2.6) | 1.5 (1.2)    |

## Delinquency History

|  | Men | Women |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Ever arrested as a youth | 62% | 42% |
| Age first arrested as youth | 13.5 (2.2) | 13.8 (1.8) |
| Number of times arrested as youth |   4.6 (8.8) |   2.2 (6.7) |
| Ever in lock-up as a youth | 51% | 24% |
| Avg. months in lock-up as youth |   7.2 (17.4) |   1.5 (5.0) |

## Criminal History

|  | Men | Women |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Age first arrested as adult | 19.5 (3.5) | 24.4 (5.9) |
| Number of times arrested as adult | 13.4 (13.5) |   8.4 (10.3) |
| Number of times in jail as adult | 10.8 (10.5) |   6.7 (9.6) |
| Number of times in custody of Oregon DOC |   1.1 (0.3) |   1.8 (1.2) |

## Mental Health and Substance Abuse

|  | Men | Women |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Ever experienced MH problem | 22% | 29% |
| Ever dx with MH, behavioral and/or learning problem | 47 | 42 |
| Ever experienced substance abuse or addiction | 87 | 89 |

## Education

|  | Men | Women |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 8th grade or less |    4% |     5% |
| Some HS |  31 |   33 |
| GED |  13 |   31 |
| HS diploma |    7 |     4 |
| Any college degree |    0 |     2 |

## Employment and Income

|  | Men | Women |
| --- | --- | --- |
| At least one job | 80% | 58% |
| Hours per week | 49 | 40 |
| Monthly income | $3,147
 (3,354) | $1,506
 (1,151)
 |
| Government aid | 73% | 86% |

## Children

|  | Men | Women |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Total children | 3.2 (2.2) | 2.8 (1.8) |
| Bio children | 2.2 (1.5) | 2.6 (1.6) |
| Avg. age of all children | 8.1 (3.8) | 8.1 (3.3) |
| Target child (TC) age | 7.3 (2.2) | 8.2 (2.4) |

## Inmate-TC Relation

|  | Men | Women |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Bio | 82% | 95% |
| Step | 16 |   5 |
| Adopted |   2 |   0 |

## TC-Inmate Contact Prior

|  | Men | Women |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Lived with full time | 36% | 41% |
| Lived with part time |   7 | 13 |
| Visited several times/wk | 27 | 15 |
| Visited once/wk or less |   9 | 18 |
| Phone and/or mail  |   4 |   6 |
| Sparse | 18 |   7 |

## Caregiver Relation

|  | Children
of Men | Children 
of Women |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Bio parent | 67% | 31% |
| Grandparent | 17 | 46 |
| Aunt or uncle |   5 |   6 |
| Foster parent |   7 |   4 |

## TC-Caregiver Contact Prior

|  | Children of Men | Children of Women |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Lived with full time | 77% | 57% |
| Lived with part time |   0 | 11 |
| Visited several times/wk |   7 | 24 |
| Visited once/wk or less |   5 |   4 |
| Phone and/or mail  |   0 |   0 |
| None | 11 |   4 |

## Conception, Pregnancy, Birth

|  | Children 
of Men | Children
of Women |
| --- | --- | --- |
| One or both parents under 18 at conception | 27% | 35% |
| Mother substance use during pregnancy |  |  |
|    Tobacco  | 46% | 69% |
|    Alcohol | 30 | 36 |
|    Other drugs | 34 | 48 |
| Premature birth | 14% | 14% |

## Early Life

|  | Children 
of Men | Children 
of Women |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Parent had contact during first year | 78% | 98% |
| First five years, “often” or “very often” had: |  |  |
|    Temper tantrums | 18% | 15%     |
|    Disobedient |   0  | 11 |
|    Phys. Fights | 15 | 13 |
| Child age when parent first incarcerated | 2.3 (2.4) | 4.8 (3.0) |
| Child present when arrested | 16% | 16% |

## TC-Incarcerated Parent Contact During

|  | Children
of Men | Children
of Women |
| --- | --- | --- |
| One Month Prior to Study |  |  |
|   Visits in prison | 1.2 (2.0) | 0.8 (1.2) |
|   Phone calls | 4.2 (7.7) | 3.6 (4.9) |
|   Parent received letters | 0.8 (1.0) | 1.0 (1.6) |
|   Parent sent letters | 2.5 (2.5) | 4.8 (6.2) |

## System Contact

|  | Children 
of Men | Children
of Women |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Seen MH professional | 27% | 46% |
| Been dx with MH,  behavioral and/or learning problem | 24 | 13 |
| Seen welfare caseworker | 33 | 47 |
| Been in foster care | 22 | 38 |
| State has guardianship |   9 | 20 |
| In foster care |   9 |   7 |
| Arrested by police |   2 |   2 |

## School

|  | Children 
of Men | Children
of Women |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Parent Report |  |  |
|    Child has been in
   trouble at school | 31% | 18% |
| Child Report |  |  |
|    Sometimes gets in 
   trouble at school | 67% | 63% |

## Substance Use Exposure

|  | Children
of Men | Children
of Women |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Seen substance abuse in home (parent report) | 33% | 49% |
| Seen children using and has used (child report) |  |  |
|    Tobacco | 22%  15% | 37%  0% |
|    Alcohol | 18      30 | 26    21 |
|    Marijuana |   7       7 | 21      0 |

## Violence Exposure

|  | Children 
of Men | Children 
of Women |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Parent Report |  |  |
|    Child seen violence in home | 36% | 24% |
|    Parent ever hit by romantic partner | 67 | 75 |
|    Child seen violence in neighborhood | 11 | 11 |
| Child Report |  |  |
|    Seen kids with lethal weapons | 41% | 26% |

## Social Support

|  | Children
of Men | Children
of Women |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Feels unliked by other kids | 41% | 47% |
| Always has someone who understands his/her problems | 33 | 37 |
| Always has someone to count on | 37 | 26 |
| Always has someone to do fun things with him/her | 26 | 26 |
| Always has someone to show him/her love | 37 | 47 |
| Always has someone who hugs him/her | 41 | 42 |

## Family HistoryTime in Jail/Prison

|  | Children
of Men | Children 
of Women |
| --- | --- | --- |
| One Generation | 27% | 37% |
| Two Generations | 71 | 58 |
| Three Generations |   2 |   9 |

## Family HistorySubstance Abuse

|  | Children
of Men | Children 
of Women |
| --- | --- | --- |
| None |     4% |     2% |
| One Generation |   11 |   26 |
| Two Generations |   60 |   46 |
| Three Generations |   24 |   27 |

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