Effects of parental incarceration on children: cross-national comparative studies

In: Psychology, crime, and justice series

Abstract

"The book opens up a neglected new frontier in this area of psychology. Psychologists have long been interested in the psychological consequences of imprisonment (good or bad, but usually bad!) on prisoners. The best of these studies, like Zimbardo's famous Stanford Experiment, also recognize that prison staff are also "doing time" and so will look at the impact of this work on their own lives as well. However, forgotten in most of this work is the fact that, despite the individual-based language of the justice process, the effects of imprisonment are felt far beyond the prison walls. The parents and grandparents, children and grandchildren, spouses and lovers, and even whole communities left behind when individuals are imprisoned are also doing time. They experience the loss of a potential provider and supporter, may suffer shame and ostracization, and have to negotiate difficult interactions with police, courts, and prisons because of a criminal act that they did not commit. This manuscript is unique in presenting the most rigorous, systematic, and sophisticated analysis, to date, of the crucially important problem of the impact of parental incarceration on the children of prisoners. Murray and his colleagues ask all of the right questions, and they answer them with clarity and precision, utilizing some of the most innovative and sophisticated research studies available in criminology. In a model of comparative cross-cultural research, Murray and colleagues compare and contrast the findings of studies based in the United States, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands, and the differences in outcome are explored in dialogue with a rich array of theory in psychology and criminology"--Foreword. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved).