Post on 22-Jan-2018
THE ERA OF PATERNAL INCARCERATION THE LATENT CYCLE OF EFFECTS
CHRISTIAN H. BINGHAM UNIVERSITY OF VERMONT Department of Sociology
MAY 5, 2015
The Era of Paternal Incarceration: The Latent Cycle of Effects Christian H. Bingham
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Table of Contents Abstract .............................................................................................................................................2
Introduction .......................................................................................................................................3
Literature Review ...............................................................................................................................3
Prevalence of Incarceration in the United States...............................................................................3
The Latent Effects on Children .........................................................................................................4
Applied Research ................................................................................................................................6
Purpose..........................................................................................................................................6
Methods ........................................................................................................................................6
Data Source ................................................................................................................................6
Measures ....................................................................................................................................6
Analyses .....................................................................................................................................6
Results ...........................................................................................................................................7
Demographics .............................................................................................................................7
Frequencies ................................................................................................................................7
Regression ..................................................................................................................................9
Discussion ........................................................................................................................................ 10
The Need for Change .................................................................................................................... 10
Implemented Programs................................................................................................................. 11
Research Limitations ..................................................................................................................... 11
Policy Recommendations .............................................................................................................. 12
Bibliography ..................................................................................................................................... 13
The Era of Paternal Incarceration: The Latent Cycle of Effects Christian H. Bingham
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Abstract Paternal incarceration today has become extremely prevalent. In 2013, there was over 1.5
million individuals are in the United States prison system, of which, 1.4 million are males. These statistics
make the United States the most incarcerated nation in the world. This is largely a result of changes in
the U.S. judicial system that were enacted over the last three decades which created mandatory
minimum sentences.
Through preliminary research the author found a correlation between paternal incarceration
and the likelihood of the prisoner’s child being incarcerated. This creates a cycle of latent effects making
each child after the next in a family’s blood line more likely to be incarcerated if a current or prior
generation father was subject to incarceration. Also, paternal incarceration has been linked to a child’s:
delinquency, social disorders, defiant behaviors, and more.
Through my own research using data collected from inmates across Vermont I have been able to
not only prove these facts, but also create quantitative scale of effects paternal incarceration has
regarding an inmate’s age of incarceration. If an inmate identified as having a father who was arrested
or incarcerated, their age of first incarceration drops by three years and their age at the beginning of
their current incarceration drops by about 9 years.
As of 2007 there were more than 1.7 million children with incarcerated parents. Following
gender related data trends, most of said parents are likely to be men. The need for policy reform
becomes evident. This author postulates that to reduce the lasting effects of paternal incarceration the
United States Justice System needs: to better facilitate contact between children and their incarcerated
father, implement more family orientated programs aimed at teaching fathers to better care for their
children upon release, to look at alternatives for less serious crimes for those who are fathers.
The Era of Paternal Incarceration: The Latent Cycle of Effects Christian H. Bingham
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Introduction The following paper is the undergraduate sociological research work of Christian H. Bingham in
conjunction with the University of Vermont’s department of sociology. The study is based around
paternal incarceration and the latent effects on the prisoner’s off-spring. Through this research the
author will: 1) give a background to the incidence of paternal incarceration, 2) demonstrate the
reoccurring effects on children, and 3) present conclusions on the topic.
The goal of the following research is to make policy change recommendations to the Vermont
Department of Corrections. Work was done in collaboration with Jill Evans, Director of Women and
Family Services, as part of Vermont’s Agency of Human Services. All research was done under the
supervision of Professor Jennifer Anne Strickler (Ph.D. Princeton University, 1993).
Literature Review Prevalence of Incarceration in the United States According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, as of December 31, 2013, there were an estimated
1,574,700 prisoners in state and federal correctional facilities. Of those incarcerated, 1,463,454 were
male while only 111,287 were female. This number has been steadily increasing since 1980, at which
point there were a mere 250,000 prisoners1 (in both state and federal facilities). “While the United
States had only 5 percent of the world’s population, it has nearly 25 percent of its prisoners” (Collier
2014). Our prison rate is followed by China, whose dictatorial leadership is arguably more draconian,
according to the International Centre for Prison Studies.
By middle of the year 2000, the imprisonment rate was around five times greater than what it
was in 1970 (Greenberg and West 2001). The comparison of worldwide incarceration rates is staggering,
1 Estimated number based off of the Bureau of Jus tice Statistics “Total State and Federal Prison Populations, 1978 -
2013” graph
The Era of Paternal Incarceration: The Latent Cycle of Effects Christian H. Bingham
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as Lorna Collier of the American Psychological Association writes, the United States has a “per capita
rate five to 10 times higher than that in Western Europe or other democracies” (2014: 56).
The cause of our increasing imprisonment rate is due to the change of judicial punishment
policies during the early 1970’s (Collier 2014). Yet, most would foresee that imprisonment be to be
related to violent crimes, whose sentence would fit the charge and thus be beneficial to society, but a
majority of our prison population is incarcerated due to non-violent property crimes (Greenberg and
West 2001). Such tough-on-crime changes were a result of the crack and cocaine epidemic that was
occurring during the time period.
The Latent Effects on Children In 2007, there were an estimated 1,706,600 minor children with incarcerated parents in the
United States (Glaze and Maruschak 2008). This number accounts for over 2 percent of the U.S
population under the age of 18. The effects an incarcerated parent has does not simply end with the
incarcerated individual. Such effects may not be seen for years or even decades and manifest in their
children. A longitudinal study of 1395 Pittsburgh area boys (Farrington et al. 2001) showed that arrests
of any relative to a child predicted their delinquent behavior. Although, the “the most important relative
was the father; arrests of the father predicted the boy’s delinquency independently of all o ther arrested
relatives” (Farrington et al. 2001).
One major determinate in the way a child is raised is whether or not their parent is incarcerated
during their upbringing. “dysfunctions in parenting or parent-child bonding can have devastating effects
on child growth and development. This may begin in infancy with manifestations of classic non-organic
failure to thrive and can continue through childhood”. Such manifestations can be “developmental
delays and disorders, oppositional and defiant behaviors, conduct disorders, juvenile delinquency and
adult criminality” (Palusci et al. 2007:80)
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“Studies from several countries show that paternal criminality predicts children’s own criminal
behavior in later life” (Murray, Janson, and Farrington 2007:133). To prove this, Murray, Janson, and
Farrington (2007) ran a study based out of London; the results were that, “of boys who experienced
paternal incarceration in their first 10 years of life, 48% were convicted as adults”.
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Applied Research Purpose Research, using survey data collected throughout the State of Vermont, will be used to examine
the quantitative effects of paternal incarceration on the life-course of the prisoner’s child. The work is
based on prisoners’ responses to questions about their own lives and incarceration and the lives of their
parents and grandparents. Based on results, the author will describe a self-perpetuating cycle in the
prison system. Without interjection, the problem will get worse.
Methods
Data Source Survey data used for this research was previously gathered through face-to-face interviews with
inmates from each Vermont State Correctional Facility. The sampling method used was every 4th inmate
and the responses totaled 379. Inmates were not incentivized to participate. Survey administrators also
made it clear to participants that their participation would not impact their sentence. The sample is
generalizable among all Vermont state prison inmates.
Measures Survey participants were asked a variety of questions about their lives and their family.
Response data was coded and entered into SPSS by a third-party. More than 350 variables were studied.
The research process was deductive and initially focused on prisoners whose fathers had also been
incarcerated.
Analyses To conduct appropriate analyses, variables had to be recoded and combined. For example, to
understand how many children a father had was a three-step process. First, the author used an IF
function to identify participants who had children. Simultaneously, an SPSS compute function solved for
how many children had and at what age. Lastly, a frequency analysis was used to calculate modal
results.
The Era of Paternal Incarceration: The Latent Cycle of Effects Christian H. Bingham
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0.0%
10.0%
20.0%
30.0%
40.0%
50.0%
60.0%
70.0%
80.0%
90.0%
Male Female
88.4%
11.6%
77%
11%
4%4% 3% 1%
Caucasian/White
African-American orBlack
Native American
Other
Latino/a or Hispanic
No Response
Significant results were found by using various regressions. To show the cycle of effects, the
author studied variables from each part of the inmate’s life. These variables consisted of attained
education, age of first incarceration, age at the beginning of their current incarceration, and adverse
living situations as a youth. The results were compared to those whose fathers had never been arrested
or incarcerated.
Results
Demographics Of those surveyed, more than 88 percent were male (Graph 1) and 77 percent identified
themselves as “Caucasian/white” (Graph 2). The gender breakdown of the inmates closely relates to
national averages. Yet, in comparison to national averages, the Vermont prison population is much more
racially homogeneous.
Graph 1 Graph 2
Frequencies 64.1 percent of those surveyed (243) identified as having children (Graphs 3 and 4). Of the
males, 63 percent (211 respondents) identified themselves as fathers (Graphs 3 and 4). Of the
incarcerated females, about 73% (32 respondents) identified themselves as mothers (Graphs 3 and4).
The Era of Paternal Incarceration: The Latent Cycle of Effects Christian H. Bingham
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0.0%
10.0%
20.0%
30.0%
40.0%
50.0%
60.0%
70.0%
80.0%
90.0%
100.0%
Parent Father Mother
64.1% 63.0%72.7%
20.00
70.00
120.00
170.00
220.00
270.00
320.00
370.00
Parent Father Mother
243.00
211.00
32.00
Graph 3 Graph 4
Of those that identified as fathers, about 32 percent responded as having one child and 25
percent responded as having two children. Graph 5 exhibits these and additional results.
Graph 5
Graph 6 presents the ages of prisoners’ children. The modal response was the 6-12 age cohort,
followed closely the 2-5 age cohort.
0.0%
5.0%
10.0%
15.0%
20.0%
25.0%
30.0%
35.0%
None or NoResponse
1 2 3 4 5 6 13
16.1%
31.8%
25.1%
14.2%
7.1%
2.8% 2.4%0.5%
RES
PO
NSE
PER
CEN
T
NUMBER OF CHILDREN
The Era of Paternal Incarceration: The Latent Cycle of Effects Christian H. Bingham
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0
50
100
150
Under two Between twoand five
Between sixand twelve
Betweenthirteen toseventeen
8% - 33
34% - 13438% - 149
20% - 80
CHIL
D C
OU
NT
AGE (YEARS)
17
18
19
20
21
22
Average Father was Incarcerated
Age, 21.88
Age, 19.051
INM
ATE
'S A
GE
OF
FIR
ST
INC
AR
CER
ATI
ON
(YEA
RS)
Sig. = ≤ .001
Graph 6
Regression Using a regression analysis, a correlation between paternal incarcerations and the age of the
inmate’s first incarcerated (Graph 7) and the age at the beginning of their current incarceration (Graph
8) was established.
Graph 7
The Era of Paternal Incarceration: The Latent Cycle of Effects Christian H. Bingham
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17
22
27
32
Average Father was Incarcerated
Age, 33.732
Age, 25.061
INM
ATE
'S A
GE
AT
THE
BEG
INN
ING
OF
THEI
R
CU
RR
ENT
INC
AR
CER
ATI
ON
(YEA
RS)
Sig. = ≤ .001
Graph 8
Using two separate regression tests a significant relationship (alpha is less than .05) between
paternal incarceration, education, and adverse youth living situations was established. If an inmate’s
father was arrested or incarcerated, the inmate themselves were likely to be less educated than other
inmates. Moreover, they were more likely to have: lived in a foster home, be homeless as a child, or be
in emergency care. They were also more likely to have experienced any combination of adverse living
situations.
Discussion The Need for Change In 2007 there were more than 1.7 million children of incarcerated parents. As a result of latent
effects, many of this children can be expected to also be incarcerated. The case of a boy named Sam will
be used to illustrate this point. In Sam’s early life, his father was incarcerated. From the author’s
research, more than 30 percent of those incarcerated in Vermont identified as having a father who was
arrested or incarcerated. As a result of Sam’s father being incarcerated, he grows up in adverse
conditions. His family’s resources become are strained - his mother or caretaker may struggle to
maintain living funds. Because of this, the child is not able to spend as much time with this mother or
caretaker. Sam is then more likely to be placed in an alternate living situation or become homeless.
The Era of Paternal Incarceration: The Latent Cycle of Effects Christian H. Bingham
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Struggling through these experiences, Sam is more likely to act out, be delinquent, or resist authority.
Sam is also less likely to get as good an education as those whose father was not arrested or
incarcerated. Sam himself is more likely to be incarcerated. Even worse, he is more likely to be
incarcerated at a younger age - before his mind can fully develop. The author’s regression tests found
that those whose father was arrested or incarcerated were more likely to go to jail three years younger
than their counterparts. If Sam has children, he is more likely to put his child at risk of growing up in
adverse conditions. At this point the cycle continues. Sam’s child is more likely to be incarcerated, his
grandchildren are more likely to be incarcerated, and so on.
Implemented Programs On December 8th 2010, President Obama signed the Claims Resolution Act (CRA). This act
authorized $150 million in grants to promote healthy marriage ($75 million) and Responsible
Fatherhood ($75 million). The grants went toward: 12 state prisons in West Virginia, 5 male correctional
facilities in South Dakota, 8 department of corrections facilities in New Jersey, 1 state prison in New
Mexico, and 3 state prisons in Ohio. The programs made possible by the CRA will help prevent fathers
from becoming incarcerated and strengthen family bonds, creating better opportunity structures for
individuals and families at risk of the latent effects of incarceration..
Research Limitations It is clear that more research is required due to the vast effects of paternal incarceration. The
research was limited to Vermont prisoners – a population that is racially homogeneous. In addition,
survey questions were not included to allow for analysis of the impact of any current programs aime d at
reducing the risk of prisoner’s children from being incarcerated. To find out more information on the
situation, interview surveys should be collect data from children about their feelings over their father
being incarcerated. This data could be used to inform intervention program design. Additional data
The Era of Paternal Incarceration: The Latent Cycle of Effects Christian H. Bingham
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regarding life experiences, drug use, delinquency, and inmate child contact would allow for a better
understanding of this issue.
Policy Recommendations More grants like the CRA need to be implemented. On a local level, Vermont could reduce the
effects of paternal incarceration by implementing programs for incarcerated fathers that: promote
healthy and sustainable marriages and relationships, reduces the possible incidence of child abuse,
teaches fathers how to care for their child, and promotes economic stability within a family unit. The
purpose of these programs would be to: reduce adverse childhood mental and social experiences, and
break the cycle of incarceration among fathers and their children.
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Bibliography
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10.1016/ j.childyouth.2007.06.006
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Incarceration.” Journal of Adolescent Research 30(2): 244-267. doi: 10.1177/0743558414558593
Murray, Joseph. 2007. “Crime in Adult Offspring of Prisoners A Cross-National Comparison of Two
Longitudinal Samples.” Criminal Justice and Behavior 34(1): 133-149. doi: 10.1177/0993854806289549
Wildeman, Christopher. 2009. “Parental Imprisonment, the Prison Boom, and the Concentration of
Childhood Disadvantage.” Demography 46(2): 265-280. doi: 10.1353/dem.0.0052
Farrington, David P. 2001. “The Concentration of Offenders in Families, and Family Criminality in the
Prediction of Boys’ Delinquency.” Journal of Adolescence 24(1): 579-596. doi: 10.1006/jado.2001.0424
Glaze, Lauren E. 2008. “Parents in Prison and Their Minor Children.” Bureau of Justice Statistics.
http://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/pptmc.pdf
Greenberg, David F. 2001. “State Prison Populations and Their Growth, 1971-1991.” Criminology 39(3):
615-651. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1745-9125.2001.tb00935.x/epdf
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http://www.apa.org/monitor/2014/10/incarceration.aspx