U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government, Department of Justice.

NCJRS Virtual Library

The Virtual Library houses over 235,000 criminal justice resources, including all known OJP works.
Click here to search the NCJRS Virtual Library

Mass Imprisonment and Racial Disparities in Childhood Behavioral Problems

NCJ Number
235690
Journal
Criminology & Public Policy Volume: 10 Issue: 3 Dated: August 2011 Pages: 793-817
Author(s)
Sara Wakefield; Christopher Wildeman
Date Published
August 2011
Length
25 pages
Annotation
Using data from three existing datasets, this article explores whether mass imprisonment affects racial disparities found in measures of childhood well-being.
Abstract
Analysis of the datasets resulted in three major findings regarding the influence of mass imprisonment on racial disparities found in measures of childhood well-being: 1) the average effect of paternal incarceration on children is harmful, not helpful, and consistently in the direction of more mental health and behavioral problems; 2) the rapid increase in the use of imprisonment coupled with significant racial disparities in the likelihood of paternal (and maternal) imprisonment are linked to large racial disparities in childhood mental health and behavioral problems; and 3) mass imprisonment might have increased Black-White inequities in externalizing behaviors by 14-26 percent and internalizing behaviors by 25-45 percent. These findings indicate that the effects of mass imprisonment extend beyond those only associated with inmates to encompass the children of incarcerated parents. In addition, these negative effects on childhood well-being are expected to continue, even if incarceration rates return to levels in existence prior to the rise of mass imprisonment. Implications for policy are discussed. Figures and references