How families respond to the collateral consequences of incarceration and prisoner reentry

• Published date: 01 July 2022
• Author: Brittany J. Hood,Shytierra Gaston
• Date: 01 July 2022
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/fare.12616

RESEARCH

How families respond to the collateral consequences

of incarceration and prisoner reentry

Brittany J. Hood

1

|Shytierra Gaston

2

1

Department of Social Sciences, Texas A&M

International University, Laredo, Texas, USA

2

Department of Criminal Justice and

Criminology, Georgia State University,

Atlanta, Georgia, USA

Correspondence

Shytierra Gaston, Department of Criminal

Justice and Criminology, Georgia State

University, P.O. Box 3992, Atlanta, Georgia

30302, USA.

Email: sgaston9@gsu.edu

Funding information

National Science Foundation Graduate

Research Fellowship Program

Abstract

Objective: The goal of this research was to investigate the

ways in which families respond to the collateral conse-

quences of incarceration and reentry.

Background: Although scholars have extensively documented

the collateral consequences of mass incarceration for individ-

uals, far less attention has been paid to families, particularly

the adult relatives of incarcerated or formerly incarcerated

persons who are the primary social support agents.

Method: The current study draws from 24 in-depth,

semistructured interviews with the parents, siblings,

romantic partners, and other relatives of formerly incar-

cerated persons in an urban, mid-sized Midwestern city.

We employed a multistage qualitative analysis.

Results: The analysis revealed 10 stress-induced responses

among families. These responses largely involved individ-

uals’self-reliance on their personal efficacy, some

reflecting maladaptive responses, while having limited

external or formal supports on which to rely when facing

strains from familial incarceration.

Implication: Findings suggest that the significant socioeco-

nomic and psychological tax families pay when supporting

a justice system–involved relative compromises their well-

being. This study has the potential to inform treatment,

research, practices, and policies involving families that are

affected by incarceration.

KEYWORDS

collateral consequences, coping, families, incarceration, prisoner reentry,

stress

The mass incarceration of generations of Americans has produced a multitude of collateral con-

sequences for incarcerated persons as well as for the communities and families they leave

behind. For nearly every person in prison, a family remains in the community. Most

Received: 13 November 2020Revised: 23 July 2021Accepted: 10 August 2021

DOI: 10.1111/fare.12616

© 2021 National Council on Family Relations

Family Relations. 2022;71:1175–1190. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/fare 1175

incarcerated persons are parents, resulting in approximately 1.7 million minor children

experiencing parental incarceration annually (Glaze & Maruschak, 2010) in addition to far

more family members—such as parents, siblings, romantic partners, and extended relatives—

being affected by incarceration and reentry. Research on families, in particular, primarily cen-

ters the minor children of incarcerated persons, revealing that parental incarceration generally

undermines the well-being of children in the short and long term and linking parental incarcera-

tion to a host of negative consequences (Gaston, 2016; Murray et al., 2012). Although much is

known about children’s responses to parental incarceration, scholars have devoted little empiri-

cal attention to the adult family members of incarcerated and formerly incarcerated persons—

the individuals primarily responsible for providing support during and after incarceration—and

how they manage the stressors of a relative’s incarceration and reentry. Focusing on families’

stress management strategies has the potential to more fully account for the far-reaching

impacts of incarceration and reentry and their potential to undermine the well-being of millions

of families while revealing areas in need of focus in treatment, policy, and practice. To begin to

address this knowledge gap, we investigate the following research question: How do adult fam-

ily members respond to the collateral consequences of familial incarceration and prisoner reen-

try? This line of inquiry centers adult relatives who are understudied in research and

underrepresented in correctional programming, helping to illuminate the needs of families in a

way that can inform treatment, policy, and practice.

LITERATURE REVIEW

Social scientists have long noted families’informal social control capacity to either enable

or inhibit criminal behavior (Hirschi, 1969) and even facilitate desistance from crime

(Laub & Sampson, 2003). Additionally, families are the primary source of social support to

incarcerated persons during and after prison. Studies show that incarcerated persons with

greater family contact and support have greater postrelease success, such as lower recidi-

vism rates (Bales & Mears, 2008). In essence, our nation’s capacity to control crime, recidi-

vism, and criminal justice contact hinges greatly on the strength of family systems, which

can be compromised by incarceration and reentry. Yet despite their significance, families

remain woefully underrepresented in correctional research, policy, and programming.

Research on collateral consequences for families has primarily focused on the effects of

parental incarceration on minor children and adult children who experienced parental incarcer-

ation as adolescents (Burgess-Proctor et al., 2016; Gaston, 2016; Huebner & Gustafson, 2007;

Siegel, 2011; Turney, 2014; Wakefield & Wildeman, 2013; Wildeman & Turney, 2014), all while

largely ignoring the experiences of adult family members who care for individuals incarcerated

or on parole. Collateral consequences refer to secondary, often invisible, sometimes informal

punishments or harms that accompany formal sanctions, such as incarceration (Travis, 2005).

While incarcerated and formerly incarcerated persons contend with a criminal record, employ-

ment discrimination, voter disenfranchisement, and diminished marriage prospects, their fami-

lies also often experience their own collateral consequences, such as economic strain, social

stigma, and emotional distress. As families support justice system–involved family members,

they expend resources socially, emotionally, and financially as well as experience challenges

related to transportation and their physical and mental well-being. Socially and emotionally,

individuals self-report experiencing stigma associated with having a family member who is

incarcerated (Arditti, 2005; Arditti et al., 2003; Cooke, 2014; Lee et al., 2014; Murray &

Farrington, 2008). Individuals who perceive stigma might withdraw from relationships with

family or friends, which can subsequently erode their support networks (Arditti, 2005). Others

report experiencing diminished family functioning as they find it difficult to reunite with loved

1176 FAMILY RELATIONS