Social Exclusion and Parental Incarceration Impacts on Adolescents' Networks and School Engagement

• Date: 01 April 2018
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/jomf.12464
• Author: Sonja E. Siennick,Joshua C. Cochran,Daniel P. Mears
• Published date: 01 April 2018

J C. C University of Cincinnati

S E. S  D P. M Florida State University∗

Social Exclusion and Parental Incarceration Impacts

on Adolescents’ Networks and School Engagement

Although prior research links parentalincarcer-

ation to deleterious outcomes for children dur-

ing the life course, few studies have examined

whether such incarceration affects the social

exclusion of childrenduring adolescence. Draw-

ing on several lines of scholarship, the authors

examined whether adolescents with incarcer-

ated parents have fewer or lower quality rela-

tionships, participate in more antisocial peer

networks, and feel less integrated or engaged

in school. The study applies propensity score

matching to survey and network data from a

national sample of youth. Analyses indicated

that children with incarcerated parents have

more antisocial peers; the authors found limited

evidence that parental incarceration adversely

impacts peer networks and school integration

domains. The results suggest that the impacts

of parental incarceration on adolescents’ social

lives have less to do with isolation than with

the types of peers adolescents befriend. Findings

provide support for the idea that parental incar-

ceration may adversely affect children’s social

exclusion.

School of Criminal Justice, University of Cincinnati, P.O.

Box 210389, Cincinnati, OH 45221-0389

(joshua.cochran@uc.edu).

∗College of Criminology and Criminal Justice, Florida State

University,112 S. Copeland Street, Tallahassee, FL 32306.

KeyWords: adolescents, mass incarceration, parentalincar-

ceration, peers, social exclusion.

The dramatic expansion of the prison system

in the United States has spurred interest in

understanding the implications that incarcera-

tion may pose for families. This focus stems in

part from recognition that the impacts extend

beyond public safety and recidivism (e.g., Mears

& Siennick, 2016; Nagin, Cullen, & Jonson,

2009; Western, 2006). Incarceration may, for

example, adversely affect the children of those

who have been incarcerated (Aaron & Dallaire,

2010; Arditti, 2012; Braman, 2004; Wakeeld&

Wildeman, 2014). A recent report by The Pew

Charitable Trusts (2010) indicates that more than

50% of U.S. inmates are parents with minor chil-

dren, resulting in more than 2.7 million children

in the United States with an incarcerated parent

(see also Mumola, 2000). Parental incarceration

has been linked to children’s problems in several

different life domains—health, behavior, edu-

cation, material well-being, political participa-

tion, homelessness, employment, and other later

life course outcomes (Cho, 2010; M. J. Eddy &

Poehlmann, 2011; Foster & Hagan, 2007; Geller,

Cooper, Garnkel, Schwartz-Soicher, & Mincy,

2012; Roettger & Boardman, 2012; Uggen &

McElrath, 2014; Wildeman, 2014). Such out-

comes stem in part from ways in which incarcer-

ation marginalizes individuals and their families

and excludes them from conventional society.

There remains, however,a limited understanding

of potential earlier marginalization or exclusion

experienced by children of incarcerated parents.

Scholarship suggests that incarceration

leads to shame, psychological distress, and the

stigmatization of families (e.g., R. Eddy &

478 Journal of Marriage and Family 80 (April 2018): 478–498

DOI:10.1111/jomf.12464

Social Exclusion and Parental Incarceration 479

Reid, 2003). The subsequent consequences for

adults can include the cessation of romantic

partnerships, exclusion from social activities,

and disconnection from the labor market. We

suggest that children may experience analogous

consequences in domains appropriate to their

developmental stage. Parental incarceration

may lead to the cessation of peer relationships,

contribute to children gravitating or feeling

pushed toward antisocial peer contexts, and

reduce their integration in school. Generally,

it may lead to children’s social exclusion. To

date, however, few empirical studies exist that

assess the impact of parental incarceration on

social exclusion among youth (see, e.g., Arditti,

2012; Foster & Hagan, 2015; Murray & Murray,

2010), especially during the period of adoles-

cence (Bockneck, Sanderson, & Britner, 2009;

Foster & Hagan, 2007; Johnson & Easterling,

2012; see, however, Lowenstein, 1986). Under-

standing the potential for the incarceration of

parents to adversely inuence the social lives of

children is important because it can shed light

on a critical period of the life course and on

the potential beginnings of consequences that

extend into adulthood and that go well beyond

the intended effects of incarceration (i.e., reduc-

tion of crime; Arditti, 2012; R. Eddy & Reid,

2003; Shlafer & Poehlmann, 2011; Warr,2002).

Accordingly, the goal of this study is to

examine whether parental incarceration affects

adolescent social exclusion and, in so doing,

to contribute to efforts to illuminate the con-

sequences of incarceration and its role in

adolescent development. Specically, we exam-

ine effects on peer relationships and integration

in school—two major social contexts for adoles-

cents. The focus on these dimensions reects the

facts that the social lives of adolescents revolve

around peer relationships and that these rela-

tionships typically occur within a school context

(Dallaire & Aaron, 2011; Shlafer & Poehlmann,

2011). Social exclusion among adolescents

thus may simultaneously entail isolation from

peers and school. This dual focus parallels prior

studies of parental incarceration that examine

behaviors and social contexts germane to later

life course stages (see, e.g., Foster & Hagan,

2007, 2009; Lee, Porter, & Comfort, 2014). The

focus stems, too, from calls for research on how

parental incarceration may inuence youths’

relationships (e.g., Arditti, 2012; Johnson &

Easterling, 2012; Lowenstein, 1986; Phillips,

Burns, Wagner, Kramer, & Robbins, 2002) and

on the effects of mass incarceration on fami-

lies with children (Hagan & Dinovitzer, 1999;

Johnson & Easterling, 2015).

To investigate the effects of parental incar-

ceration on social exclusion of youth, we exam-

ine data from the National Longitudinal Study

of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health,

http://www.cpc.unc.edu/addhealth). Propensity

score matching is used to estimate the effect of

parental incarceration on peer network size and

quality, association with antisocial peers, and

integration or engagement in school. The results

provide mixed support for the possibility that

parental incarceration contributes to the social

exclusion of children.

B

Parental Incarceration and Its Effects

on Children and Social Exclusion

A growing body of literature exists aimed at

identifying the wide-ranging implications of

parental incarceration for families and children

(Aaron & Dallaire, 2010; Braman, 2004; Wake-

eld & Wildeman, 2014). Parental incarceration

has, for example, been shown to adversely affect

the future education, income, and labor market

prospects of children (Cho, 2009; Giordano,

2010; Hagan & Dinovitzer, 1999; Haskins,

2014; Turney & Haskins, 2014), and studies

consistently link parental incarceration to an

increased likelihood that children go on to

engage in future crime and eventually expe-

rience their own incarceration (Besemer, Van

der Geest, Murray, Bijleveld, & Farrington,

2011; Kjellstrand & Eddy, 2011; Mears &

Siennick, 2016; Murray & Farrington, 2005;

van de Rakt, Murray, & Nieuwbeerta, 2012).

Broadly, scholarship during the past 2 decades

indicates that parental incarceration and the

family fragility caused by it may have profound,

collateral impacts that work to marginalize

youth in diverse ways during adulthood (e.g.,

Foster & Hagan, 2007; Lee & McLanahan,

2015; Turney & Haskins, 2014; Wakeeld &

Wildeman, 2014).

Prior scholarship has used the phrase “social

exclusion” and others, such as “exclusion-

ary outcomes” (Foster & Hagan, 2015), to refer

broadly to the possibility that parental incarcera-

tion reduces family members’ social integration

across various micro- and macro-level domains

(see, generally,Kahn & Kamerman, 2002; Mick-

lewright, 2002; Murray,2007; Walker & Walker,