A Retrospective Look at the Experience of Parental Incarceration and Family Reentry During Adolescence

ABSTRACT

Few studies provide firsthand experiences of parental incarceration in adolescents’ own voices. Fourteen young men and women retrospectively shared their experiences of parental incarceration and family reentry during adolescence. Individual interviews focused on the following qualitative research questions: (1) What is the experience of parental incarceration and reentry for adolescents? (2) How does the child–parent relationship change from pre- to postincarceration? Relationships with incarcerated parents tended toward estrangement. Negative emotions and need for emotional support were predominant in the sample. Findings have implications for improving mental health services for children and families, trauma work, and policy interventions across services.

KEYWORDS:

• adolescence
• health
• mental health
• parental incarceration
• parent child relationship

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to acknowledge the contributions of the young people who shared their experiences with us. Without them this work would not have been possible.

Funding

Financial support was provided by the University of Washington – Tacoma Social Work and Criminal Justice Program and the Syracuse University School of Social Work.

Additional information

Funding

Financial support was provided by the University of Washington – Tacoma Social Work and Criminal Justice Program and the Syracuse University School of Social Work.