Financial strain, the transference of stigma, and residential instability: A qualitative analysis of the long‐term effects of parental incarceration

• Published date: 01 October 2023
• Author: Marcus Shaw
• Date: 01 October 2023
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/fare.12763

RESEARCH

Financial strain, the transference of stigma, and

residential instability: A qualitative analysis of the

long-term effects of parental incarceration

Marcus Shaw

Department of Criminology, California State

University–Fresno, Fresno, CA

Correspondence Marcus Shaw, Department of

Criminology, California State University–

Fresno, 5241 N Maple Ave, Fresno, CA

93740, USA.

Email: marcusshaw@mail.fresnostate.edu

Abstract

Objective: This study seeks to document the long-term effects

of parental incarceration on life course by interviewing adults

who had a parent incarcerated when they were a child.

Background: An exponential increase in incarceration in the

late 20th century has produced many adverse effects and

increased social disadvantage for families and communities.

From the life course perspective, parental incarceration is

argued to be a detrimental experience in numerous ways.

Methods: This study utilizes (N=31) in-depth qualitative

interviews with adult respondents in California who expe-

rienced parental incarceration at some point in their life.

The study uses descriptive phenomenology to examine the

effects of parental incarceration on life course.

Results: The themes discussed in this study are financial

and emotional strain, residential instability, and the trans-

ference of stigma. Financial strain and residential instability

were associated with many negative effects for children of

incarcerated parents. Participants recalled such experiences

as consistently moving residencies, attending multiple

schools, homelessness and inability to attend school, and

lack of household resources. The transference of stigma

occurred when a parent’s record became a representation of

achild’s moral worth. Interviewees reported feeling or

experiencing stigmatization, in social and professional set-

tings, due to their parent’s incarceration or criminal record.

Conclusion: This study illuminates how the life course

experience of parental incarceration can have significant

long-term impacts on children, potentially placing them at risk.

Documenting the intergenerational impacts of mass incarcera-

tion on children and families is of societal importance.

KEYWORDS

life course, parental incarceration, stigma, strain

Received: 29 June 2021Revised: 21 July 2022Accepted: 24 July 2022

DOI: 10.1111/fare.12763

© 2022 National Council on Family Relations.

Family Relations. 2023;72:1773–1789. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/fare 1773

INTRODUCTION

Vanessa: We never had extra money to do normal stuff like you know people who

had their parents to do stuff. …If she [mother] was here, I probably would have

stayed in school and just everything else I went through I wouldn’t have gone

through maybe as much as I did.

When institutions operate in ways that promote inequality or reduce societal advancement

of future generations, it can be argued that these institutions have a demobilizing effect. The

institutional practice that comes into question in this research article isthat of the contemporary

phenomenon of mass incarceration, and more specifically, the intergenerational effects of parental

incarceration on life course development. This article furthers researchers’understanding of how

parental incarceration can limit, reverse, or impede socialmobility.

Incarceration has disproportionately become an experience in the life course of poor minori-

ties, and the majority of incarcerated individuals are parents (Glaze & Maruschak, 2008;

Pettit & Western, 2004). In many cases, the removal of a parent can be conceptualized as an

extraction of vital social resources that would be beneficial to the child’s social mobility.

Millions of children have lost, and many more millions of children will lose, a parent to the crimi-

nal justice system at some point in their life. The conditions in which they find themselves when

the parent is removed can significantly impact their trajectories. The qualitative findings of this

study (N=31) support that parental incarceration can have long-term negative life course conse-

quences due to the intergenerational effects of financial and emotional strain, residential instability,

and the transference of stigma. These three themes are discussed in this article.

Parental incarceration

Researchers have documented the exponential growth in the United States correctional systems

in the post–civil rights era (Mauer, 2006; Travis et al., 2014; Western & Pettit, 2010). This

increase in incarcerated individuals has had many negative consequences for communities—

largely due to the increase in maternal and paternal incarceration. A report released in 2015 by

the Center for American Progress found that between 33 million and 36.5 million children have

at least one parent who has a criminal record and that this represents nearly half of all

U.S. children (Vallas et al., 2015). However, it is important to note that children from different

backgrounds are not experiencing parental incarceration at equal rates. The era of mass incar-

ceration has been highly racialized; respectively, Blacks and Latinos are 5.87 and 3.13 times as

likely to be incarcerated as their White counterparts (Carson, 2018). Subsequently, the experi-

ence of parental incarceration has also become highly racialized as well. As the gap in

experiencing parental incarceration between White children of college educated parents and

their counterparts has continued to grow (Wildeman, 2009), it is reported that 11% of Black

children, 3.5% of Latino children, and 1.75% of White children had a parent incarcerated

(Western & Pettit, 2010). In the last 2 decades of the 20th century, the number of fathers incar-

cerated in the United States increased fivefold (Western & Wildeman, 2009). In this same

period, the number of incarcerated mothers also significantly increased; the current rate is

8 times the count it was in 1980 (Sheet, 2015).

There have been significant advancements in understanding the impacts of parental incar-

ceration on children. Research has found that parental incarceration negatively impacts housing

support and residential stability (Siennick, 2016). Research has also revealed that children of

incarcerated parents do not share the same educational success as their counterparts

(Cho, 2009; Foster & Hagan, 2009; Haskins, 2014; Shaw, 2019), but there is still room to fur-

ther uncover how the dynamics of parental incarceration negatively impact educational success.

1774 FAMILY RELATIONS