Parental Arrest and Incarceration: How Does it Impact the Children?
63 Pages Posted: 11 Sep 2017 Last revised: 26 Jan 2019
Date Written: May 31, 2018
Abstract
Parental arrest and incarceration represents a profound and traumatic experience for almost 3 million children in the U.S. and scholars in criminology and sociology consistently find negative impacts on children across a range of academic and behavioral outcomes. The research presented here provides evidence that parental arrest coincides with negative outcomes for children, but that the incarceration of a parent may benefit the child. Benefits occur for end-of-grade exams and behavioral (e.g. suspensions, absences) outcomes with positive effects concentrated among young children with mothers that commit violent crimes or fathers with alcohol/drug offenses. Results suggest that parental incarceration leads to the removal of a negative role model and changes in a child's home environment due to household reformation.
Keywords: parental incarceration
JEL Classification: K4
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation