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Next Generation: Children of Prisoners

NCJ Number
175332
Journal
Journal of the Oklahoma Criminal Justice Research Consortium Volume: 3 (August 1996) Issue: Dated: Pages: 19-28
Author(s)
J Hagan
Date Published
1996
Length
10 pages
Annotation
This article examines the unintended consequences for children of the incarceration of their parents.
Abstract
In the United States, about two-thirds of incarcerated women and more than one-half of incarcerated men are parents of children under 18 years of age. An estimated 1,500,000 children have a parent who is incarcerated and many more children will have a parent incarcerated during a period of their lives. Incarceration of their parents may result in children having problems with separation, caretaking, schooling, antisocial behavior, educational failure, precocious sexuality, premature departures from home, early childbearing and marriage, and idleness and joblessness during adolescence and early adulthood. This article proposes a longitudinal study to examine the dimensions and causes of these problems among children of parents sentenced in the Federal district courts of New York. A major premise of this proposal is that the withdrawal or loss of a parent can result in the loss not only of economic capital, but also of social capital involving relationships among family members and the organization of family life toward the maintenance and improvement of life chances of children. References