An attachment perspective on incarcerated parents and their children

Abstract

The United States now incarcerates more people than any other country in the world (Pew Charitable Trust, 2008), and most of these incarcerated individuals have one or more children 18 years of age or younger (Glaze & Maruschak, 2008). Although the actual number is not known because the information is not systematically collected by jails, prisons, schools, child welfare agencies, or other organizations or institutions, a conservative estimate is that more than three million children are affected (Glaze & Maruschak, 2008; Western & Wildeman, 2009). In editing this special issue we had two major goals: (1) to introduce the many issues raised by parental incarceration to readers already grounded in attachment theory and research and (2) to highlight the importance of an attachment perspective to those who study and work with incarcerated parents. The contributors to this special issue present conceptual and empirical articles focusing on attachment issues related to incarcerated parents and their children. This introduction provides an overview of these contributions.

Keywords:

• attachment
• incarceration
• parents
• interventions

Acknowledgements

As co-editors of this special issue, we are grateful for the assistance of a number of people. Each of us read and edited several drafts of all the papers, and we thank the authors for their careful attention to our suggestions. Inge Bretherton not only contributed a thoughtful discussion but also provided helpful comments as she read each paper. We also appreciate the helpful reviews provided by the following scholars: Danielle H. Dallaire, Ann B. Loper, Ginger A. Moore, Laura J. Sherman, Miriam Steele, Brandi Stupica, and Marinus H. van IJzendoorn. Howard Steele provided important guidance throughout. We dedicate this special issue to the memory of Andrea Karfgin, whose fierce determination to improve the lives of incarcerated women and their children initiated a string of events that ultimately led to this publication.