An Examination of the Intersectional Experience of Incarcerated Parents

ABSTRACT

Data from the 2004 Survey of Inmates in State and Federal Correctional Facilities, consisting of 9,262 incarcerated parents, were used to explore patterns of anger, with a particular focus on understanding the interplay between emotional distress and other predictors of anger among incarcerated parents through the lens of General Strain Theory. Through a conjunctive analysis of case configurations (CACC), results from the current study show that 1) reports of anger cluster moderately among specific situational profiles, which are defined by the unique combination of variable attributes; 2) incarcerated parents most likely to report anger have consistently reported emotional distress, but incarcerated parents least likely to report anger rarely described emotional distress; and 3) incarcerated parents who report emotional distress can increase their chances of reported anger by as much as 12% in some situational contexts, but can have almost no influence on feelings of anger in others. Current findings are discussed considering existing scholarship on the well-being of incarcerated parents and recommendations for policy and future areas of research are offered.

KEYWORDS:

• Incarcerated parents
• anger
• emotional distress
• conjunctive analysis of case configurations

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. While a more comprehensive measure of anger, such as the State-Trait-Anger-Expression-Inventory (STAXI-2), would be an advisable way of assessing anger, the use of secondary data limits the ability to measure anger (Etzler et al., 2014).