Description
Book SynopsisAs the United States approaches its 50th year of mass incarceration, more children than ever before have experienced the incarceration of a parent. The vast majority of incarceration occurs in locally operated jails and disproportionately impacts families of color, those experiencing poverty, and rural households. However, we are only beginning to understand the various ways in which children cope with the incarceration of a parent – particularly the coping of young children who are most at risk for the adversity and also the most detrimentally impacted.
When Are You Coming Home? helps answer questions about how young ones are faring when a parent is incarcerated in jail. Situated within a resilience model of development, the book presents findings related to children’s stress, family relationships, health, home environments, and visit experiences through the eyes of the children and families. This humanizing, social justice-oriented approach discusses the paramount need to support children and their families before, during, and after a parent’s incarceration while the country simultaneously grapples with strategies of reform and decarceration.
Trade Review“When Are You Coming Home? illuminates some of the reasons or pathways through which parental incarceration influences children. The research base is sound and accessible; there is a lot to like about this book.”
-- Holly Foster * professor of sociology and chancellor EDGES fellow, Texas A&M University *
“When Are You Coming Home? presents scientific evidence in an accessible format to a broad audience. The case studies are thought-provoking, and the data adds significantly to the literature.”
-- Beth Gifford * associate public policy research professor, Duke University *
Table of Contents Foreword
Preface
1 A National Tragedy: Introduction to Children
with Incarcerated Parents
2 “Is Daddy Getting Taken Away?”: Parental Arrest
and Family Separation
3 “Look, It’s My Family Together!”: Family Relationships
during Parental Incarceration
4“We’re Still Working on It”: Children’s Health
and Development
5 “Just Temporary”: Caregiving and Children’s
Home Environments
6 “It Is So Good to Hug You!”: Visiting and Other
Forms of Parent-Child Contact
7 “Da-Da Gonna Play with Me Soon!”: Reintegration
for Incarcerated Parents
8 Opportunities for Growth: Resilience and Its
Implications for Intervention and Policy
Appendix A: Study Methods
Appendix B: Study Measures
Acknowledgments
Glossary
References
Notes on Contributors
Index
