Children of Incarcerated Parents: Implications for School Counselors.

The recent increase in prison populations has given rise to an unprecedented number of children in the school system with incarcerated parents. To cope with stressors before, during, or after parents’ incarceration, children can exhibit a range of problematic and maladaptive behaviors. This article explores the negative behaviors these children can exhibit during various stages of their parents’ incarceration and the implications of such behaviors in school and learning environments. In addition, the paper argues for the critical role counselors can have in providing relevant therapeutic interventions, reducing stigma of incarceration in the schools, and integrating community resources. Children of Incarcerated Parents 3 Children of Incarcerated Parents: Implications for School Counselors Over the past 20 years, the number of inmates in the prison system has risen annually by approximately 4% (Miller, 2006) with the current prison population estimated at 200,000 (Federal Bureau of Prisons, 2008). The number of female prisoners has seen an even greater increase, largely attributed to a surge in non-violent crimes (Arditti, 2005; Reed & Reed, 1997), including drug use, prostitution, and theft (Miller, 2006; Smith, Krisman, Strozier & Marley, 2004). This growing population of women, many of whom are primary caregivers for their children (Johnston, 2006; Miller, 2006), has contributed to an unprecedented number of children with incarcerated parents in the public school system. Since 1991, the population of minor children with at least one incarcerated parent has increased by 80% as the number of male and female inmates has grown (Glaze & Maruschak, 2008). Regarding the consequences of these trends, Murray and Farrington (2005) have suggested that parental incarceration causes “profound psychosocial difficulties” in children (p. 1269). The negative conditions before, during, or after parents’ incarceration as well as additional stressors outside of the home may create emotional trauma in children (Mazza, 2002). Likewise, these environmental risk factors can weaken children’s ability to cope, exhibiting maladaptive behaviors to overcome stressful events. Furthermore, families’ decisions to keep parental incarceration private (Adalist-Estrin, 2006) and the wide range of responses children can exhibit towards their parents’ confinement may cause difficulty for community and governmental agencies in identifying and serving these individuals. According to Murray (2007), the social isolation children experience as result of their parents’ incarceration may contribute to Children of Incarcerated Parents 4 their decisions to engage in delinquent activity, and thus creates a generational cycle of criminal behavior. School counselors are in a unique position to aid these children and their families. These individuals may be able to identify children of incarcerated parents because they have frequent interaction with this population during the school day. In addition, the school setting may be a place where these children feel safest and more willing to express their emotions. Currently, there is insufficient literature addressing how school counselors can heighten their awareness and develop skills for working with this population of children. This article aims to examine children of incarcerated parents, the environments they live in, and the role school counselors can take in these children’s lives. In particular, we will address how school counselors can become advocates for this population by creating counseling programs that offer support through appropriate interventions, school-wide education, and community outreach. Considerations for Children of Incarcerated Parents When facing the trauma of parents’ incarceration, a variety of negative family and environmental conditions can influence children’s ability to maintain resiliency (Jaffee, Caspi, Moffitt, Polo-Tomas, & Taylor, 2005). Often these factors, including poverty (Dallaire, 2007; Newby, 2006), exposure to violence, child abuse, as well as substance abuse and mental illness (Johnson & Waldfogel, 2004), are present in the home prior to parents’ arrests and imprisonment. Furthermore, these factors may strongly affect how children will respond in school when their parents become incarcerated. Children and families’ cultural and racial identities are important components in understanding society’s view of incarceration and criminal behavior. According to Children of Incarcerated Parents 5 Krisberg and Engel-Temin (2007), “African American children are nine times more likely to have an incarcerated parent than white children. Latino children are three times more likely to have an imprisoned parent than white children. ” (p. 185). This discrepancy between ethnic groups has become more pronounced as the population of children with incarcerated parents has risen over the past decade (Krisberg & Engel-Temin, 2007). Because a higher number of African American and Latino children have parents in prison, school counselors may observe a higher portion of these students exhibiting maladaptive coping strategies, emotional turmoil, and academic difficulties. Moreover, because many children of incarcerated parents often engage in negative behaviors that can lead to imprisonment, these statistics may suggest that a disproportionate number of African American and Latino children will become incarcerated as adults. Pattillo, Weiman, and Western (2004) have found that African American and Latino youth have higher arrest rates and commit more homicides than any other racial group in the United States. Pattillo et al. (2004) have also found that those who are of lower socio-economic status (SES) and dwell in predominantly minority neighborhoods prior to incarceration compile the majority of the current prison population. For these reasons, counselors in any setting can develop multicultural competence by acknowledging their own cultural biases (Sue, Arredondo, & McDavis, 1992). Counselors can also expand their knowledge in the customs and practices of various ethnic and racial groups to advance their skills for working with culturally diverse individuals (Sue et al., 1992). Likewise, because of the relationship between incarceration and lower SES (Pattillo et al., 2004), school counselors may need to Children of Incarcerated Parents 6 recognize that children of incarcerated parents may be living in poor environmental conditions and/or poverty (Dallaire, 2007). In addition to the societal barriers regarding race and ethnicity, these living conditions may require further exploration into families’ coping strategies and resilience. In the school setting, a broadened perspective of multicultural and socioeconomic issues can assist school counselors in recognizing children’s needs, validating children’s experiences, and promoting better solutions for children in the classroom and at home. Despite the data regarding the incarceration of minority populations, school counselors can acknowledge that children of any race or ethnic group may cope with parental incarceration by exhibiting attention-seeking behaviors in the classroom (Hanlon et al., 2005; Johnston, 1995). Failing to intervene during this critical period may intensify the disruptions in children’s emotional and cognitive development (Johnston, 1995, 2006). With this in mind, we will examine specific aspects of parental incarceration that can lead to these negative emotional and behavioral outcomes in children. These aspects include separation from their parents, poor quality of care after parents’ incarceration, traumatic visitations with parents in prison, and difficult transition periods when incarcerated parents reenter the home. Separation from Parents Children’s initial experiences with their parents’ incarceration may include witnessing parents’ arrests. These experiences can be traumatic (Murray, 2007), especially if police officers have to use force. Seeing parents arrested by police may be confusing or frightening for children (Mazza, 2002). In addition, because their parents are no longer available to protect them, feelings of helplessness can surface for Children of Incarcerated Parents 7 children, which can ultimately lead to anxiety or avoidant behaviors while in school. Moreover, children may show reluctance to attend school out of the fear that the other caregiver will be taken away by police during the school day. The trauma involved for children as they witness their parents’ arrests may cause these individuals to form negative images of law enforcement officials, seeing them as assailants instead of protectors (Murray & Farrington, 2005). Unlike adults who may turn their emotions inward in response to violence, children may express their feelings outward in efforts to gain control. Their experience with this violence may anger children and inhibit their ability to produce empathy, causing them to display their emotions through violent, disruptive, and/or defiant actions (Osofsky, 1995). In the school setting, children’s feelings of abandonment and lack of trust in adults can manifest into a disregard for school rules, classroom instructions, and the rights and safety of other students. During these traumatic periods, school counselors may need to engage children in activities that promote trust. School counselors can also work with children to heighten their awareness of the feelings of others as well as develop more positive ways to deal with their anger, fear, and shame. In addition to witnessing or learning of arrests, children often struggle with the physical separation from their incarcerated parents (Poehlmann, 2005). Arditti (2005) describes that “incarceration represents the social death of the loved one, and surviving family members may experience a profound sense of loss” (p. 253). Moreover, Poehlmann (2005) observed a sample of children with incarcerated mothers to exhibit their grief with persistent cr