PRB staff created this document to help researchers summarize their key findings for policymakers, planners, journalists, and other audiences.

Headline (25 words or less)
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Byline
(List author or authors by name.)

Key Findings (~100 words)
(State the main research findings in three bullets. Around 100 words.)

Statement of the Problem (~300 words)

• • • (Title of this section will be like a headline that captures the main challenge.)
    • (Intro sentence; clearly articulate the problem right at the top.)
    • (Two paragraphs summarizing the main problem the study addresses and some of the background on previous research.)
    • (Final sentence; clearly articulate what this policy brief is looking at and why it is important.)

Figure
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Detailed Findings (~500 words, or less)
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• • • Finding 1 (headline and supporting paragraph(s)).
    • Finding 2 (headline and supporting paragraph(s)).
    • Finding 3 (headline and supporting paragraph(s)).
    • (Short paragraph that describes the data and analysis for each study described.)

Policy Implications (~100 words)
(Headline and 1-2 paragraphs describing what policymakers should take away from these findings.)

About the Authors
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References
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Sample Research Brief: Mass Incarceration Is Taking a Hidden Toll on the Health and Well-Being of Growing Numbers of U.S. Children

Key Findings 

Children with an incarcerated parent have higher levels of physical and mental health conditions than other similar children. When a parent goes to jail or prison, their children are much more likely to become homeless, and to develop behavioral problems than their peers.

The number of U.S. children with an incarcerated parent grew five times between 1980 and 2012 to include 1 in 25 U.S. children, a result of policies that imprisoned more people for longer.

The strong links between parental incarceration and homelessness and behavioral problems should lead to a rethinking of sentencing policies, particularly for nonviolent offenders.

Parental incarceration Is Widespread and is Taking a Severe Toll on Children’s Lives

The number of children with a parent in prison or jail grew five times between 1980 and 2012, rising from about 500,000 to 2.6 million (see figure).[i] This growth is related to get-tough-on-crime policies and the war on drugs that jailed more people for longer periods. Most U.S. inmates have minor children and 45% were living with their children before they were imprisoned, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics.[ii] On any given day in 2012, nearly 4% of U.S. children younger than age 18—one in 25 children—were separated from a parent because of incarceration. Among Black children, one in nine had a parent in custody.

In this brief, we describe a new study showing that U.S. children of incarcerated parents are an extremely vulnerable group, and much more likely to have behavioral problems and physical and mental health conditions than their peers.[iii] We also explore additional new research that examines the impact on children of having a parent in their household go to jail or prison.

Parents’ Imprisonment Is Linked to Children’s Health and Behavioral Problems

Compared with their peers with similar family backgrounds, children with a parent in prison or jail had a much greater incidence of a variety of conditions, including poor health; attention deficit disorder/attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADD/ADHD); behavioral or conduct problems; learning disabilities; anxiety; and developmental delays.[iv] Children with an incarcerated parent were more than three times more likely to have behavioral problems or depression than similar children without an imprisoned parent, and at least twice as likely to suffer from learning disabilities, ADD/ADHD, and anxiety.

The risk of having health and behavioral problems was much higher for children with an incarcerated parent than for their peers who experienced other sorts of childhood stress, such as divorce, death of a parent, or living with a mentally ill parent.

Our study used the 2011-2012 National Survey of Children’s Health, which gathered data on more than 50,000 children under age 18 across the country. This is the first study to use a large, nationally representative sample to examine the health of children whose parents have spent time behind bars.

When a Parent Is Incarcerated, Children Are More Likely to Develop Behavioral Problems, Face Homelessness, and Experience Harsh Parenting

Children who are living with their fathers before they are incarcerated were much more likely to develop behavioral problems (acting out or breaking rules, or attention difficulties such as impulsivity or daydreaming) after his incarceration than children who live elsewhere.[v] But when an abusive father is imprisoned, we find no measurable effects on the development and behavior of their children. Jailing an abusive father may protect the children.

Having a recently incarcerated father dramatically increased a child’s risk of being homeless, even after their socioeconomic characteristics and previous housing problems are considered.[vi] When a father is imprisoned, the household not only loses his income, but research shows they also experience a decline in social support from friends and family and in various forms of public assistance. The mother’s capacity to cope (measured by increases in depression symptoms and stress levels) also falls.

Our results showed that mothers’ neglectful and physically aggressive behaviors toward their children after fathers left for prison or jail were related to the mothers’ depression, economic insecurity, and changes in the relationship with their imprisoned partner.[vii]

For this analysis, we used the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, which tracked 5,000 urban children and their predominantly unmarried parents from a child’s birth to age nine. By assessing children before and after a parent is incarcerated, these data isolate the impact of a parent’s incarceration on the well-being of their children and partner.

Screen Children for Parental Incarceration, Rethink Sentencing Policies

The impact of parental incarceration on children is an overlooked and unintended consequence of the prison boom. Health professionals and social workers in communities where incarceration is common should consider screening children for parental incarceration because of the dramatically elevated risk of health and behavioral problems.

The strong links between parental incarceration and child health and behavioral problems should lead policymakers to rethink sentencing guidelines, particularly for nonviolent offenders. Many parents, especially fathers, are incarcerated for nonviolent offenses affecting not only their life chances but the life chances of their children.

About the Authors: Kristin Turney is a University of California-Irvine sociologist.

References 

[i] Bryan Sykes and Becky Pettit, “Mass Incarceration, Family Complexity, and the Reproduction of Childhood Disadvantage,” The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 654, no. 1 (2014): 127-49.

[ii] E. Ann Carson, Prisoners in 2013 (Washington, DC: Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2014); and Daniela Golinelli and Todd D. Minton, Jail Inmates at Midyear 2013 (Revised) (Washington, DC: Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2014). Note: In 2013, roughly 1.6 million adults were in state and federal custody and 730,000 in city or county jails and other facilities. About five percent of prisoners in state and federal custody were housed in local jails.

[iii] Kristin Turney, “Stress Proliferation Across Generations? Examining the Relationship Between Parental Incarceration and Childhood Health,” Journal of Health and Social Behavior 55, no. 3 (2014): 302-19.

[iv] Kristin Turney, “Stress Proliferation Across Generations? Examining the Relationship Between Parental Incarceration and Childhood Health,” Journal of Health and Social Behavior 55, no. 3 (2014): 302-19.

[v] Center on Child Wellbeing, Princeton University, and Columbia Population Research Center, Columbia University, “Parental Incarceration, Children’s School Readiness, and Intervention Needs,” Fragile Families Research Brief 44 (2009).

[vi] Kristin Turney, “The Consequences of Paternal Incarceration for Maternal Neglect and Harsh Parenting,” Social Forces 92, no. 4 (2014): 1607-36.

[vii] Kristin Turney and Anna Haskins, “Falling Behind? Children’s Early Grade Retention After Parental Incarceration,” Sociology of Education 87, no. 4 (2014): 241-58.