Just as poverty and low literacy become a cycle within a family, so often does incarceration.

As noted by the Center for Community Alternatives, “The research on children of incarcerated parents indicates that the loss of a parental figure…has a profound effect on children and adolescents. For adolescents, parental incarceration has been associated with poor academic achievement, involvement in delinquency and gang-related activities, violence, and eventually adult criminal behavior. One study estimated that children with imprisoned parents are almost six times more likely than their counterparts to become criminally involved and incarcerated at some point in their future . . . Many of these children [who are separated from their parents by incarceration] see no chance of having their lives follow paths which are any different than those of their parents.”(7)

When released, incarcerated individuals often return to families that may not be supportive of change.

A strong support network is important for individuals in the midst of transition. Children, parents, spouses, and other family members can be powerful influences — both positive and negative. On a positive note, parents who have participated in family literacy programs report that their children were their greatest motivation for achieving personal and family goals. On the other hand, incarcera-tion, whether short- or long-term, can erode a parent’s confidence in his or her own capabilities to parent suc-cessfully.

Others in the surrounding family and social systems may feel and express the same kind of doubts. Even in infancy, children can sense this doubt and might reject the parent as unreliable, unpredictable, unloving, and uninvolved. When incarcerated parents feel isolated from or rejected by their children, they may be more likely to act out in a jail setting, and may incur more punishments. Those punishments, in turn, may result in extended sentences that lengthen the period of physical loss and conflict.

“Kids are mirrors of me and what I say and do.”
Participant in family literacy program