Introduction
Since the mid-1970s, the United States has witnessed an uninterrupted increase in imprisonment rates. Before the 1970s, the rate of imprisonment or incarceration had stayed moderately stable at an average value of 110 prisoners per 100,000 inhabitants for more than one-half of the century. From 1980 to 2000, United States imprisonment rates increased by at least 35,000 people per year, with an average year adding between 55,000 and 75,000 new prisoners. Comparing United States rates with those of other nations clearly reveals that the United States is a major outlier among its peers in terms of imprisonment or incarceration. For example, the United States has an imprisonment ratio of 743 prisoners per 100,000 inhabitants, compared with just 120 prisoners in Canada, 105 prisoners in Italy, and 152 prisoners in Great Britain and Wales. This increase in imprisonment has occurred despite comparatively stable crime rates over the last four decades.
The change in the United States imprisonment pattern “deserves a name of its own…America now has ‘mass imprisonment’—a new name to describe an altogether new phenomenon”. Garland proclaims that there are two different types of mass imprisonment:
- An imprisonment rate and prison population significantly above past and comparative standards
- “the social concentration of imprisonment’s effects…[due to] the systemic imprisonment of whole groups of the population,” wherein he mentions the uneven imprisonment of the African-American people in the prisons of the United States system.
The effect of mass imprisonment is not restricted to those who are serving time behind bars. Most prisoners are members of friendship and family systems, which are also affected by the consequences of imprisonment. While prisoners face the direct effects of imprisonment, their relatives live their lives in what is labeled as the shadow of the jail.
Prisoners’ Families
Inmates’ relatives are an assorted group. However, the vast majority of research focuses on the heterosexual nuclear family system, which normally consists of an imprisoned father, a non-imprisoned mother, and a young child. The available research literature largely lacks discussion of the non-incarcerated male partners of female inmates or of same-sex partners. Research on the families of older prisoners is lacking, and very little is known about the parents or siblings of imprisoned persons. One point that is clear, though, is that the impact of imprisonment is disproportionately felt by families and communities of color, which reflects the decidedly uneven rates of imprisonment among ethnic groups. In the year 2003, the cultural arrangement of the state and federal jail populace was around 44% African-American and more than 35% Caucasian, while in the overall inhabitants, African-Americans account for only 12.8%, and Caucasians include 80% of the population.
Relationships
Stable marriages and strong family relationships have been found to be protective factors that help decrease the risk of recidivism. Research has indicated that a strong and enduring emotional attachment through marriage can discourage men from involvement in unlawful conduct. However, the same relationship does not seem to hold for female offenders as it does for men. In numerous circumstances, women are mostly involved in illegal and criminal conduct as assistants to their male associates. Imprisonment places marital relationships under significant stress. Most of the time, the stress is a result of the unlawful conduct itself, though at other times it results from the separation or other difficulties encountered during sentencing. In numerous cases, there is a combination of family problems that leads toward imprisonment. For instance, family members who live with offenders prior to their arrest are frequently affected by police interaction, family discord or domestic violence, substance abuse or poverty, or other illegal conduct.
Therefore, imprisonment might serve as the last straw in a previously strained relationship. A spouse’s imprisonment might provide a partner with the chance to take the first steps toward cutting ties with an offender with whom there have been past problems. Research has suggested that 45% of prisoners lost their interaction with their relatives during imprisonment, and 22% of married prisoners were separated or divorced. One likely explanation is that correctional facilities are often physically remote, which makes travel to and from the facility challenging. For those relatives and families who do plan the tour, they are mostly confronted with insufficient staying amenities that delay healthy family communication. Family relations might be more stressed by uncooperative telephone calls that might consist of insincere chats in which hurting or particular subjects are evaded. Telephonic interaction, with the help of collect calls or prepaid phone cards, is also very expensive, thus restricting those who are socio-economically deprived.
Financial Impact
The financial influence of imprisonment on relatives or families is well-recognized. The experiences of these families are often marked by serious financial hardship. For certain families, the imprisonment of a family associate might mean the loss of the family’s main source of revenue. However, over 50% of prisoners report being unemployed prior to their imprisonment, and most report a history of substance misuse; therefore, it is reasonable to assume that prior to imprisonment, the family member probably represented a drain on family income rather than a contribution to it. In circumstances in which the imprisoned family member was not actively involved in or living with the family, the financial effect might be limited, but there could still be significant financial harm, such as the loss of child-support benefits.
The financial burden of imprisonment increases when families try to maintain their relationships with incarcerated individuals. The burden of families supporting prisoners has been labeled as ‘a shadow punishment’. Prisoners are often more reliant on their families during imprisonment than they had been before incarceration. For instance, prisoners depend on their families for telephone contact, money, and particular items. These tasks might be particularly onerous for families that are financially challenged. Imprisoned parents need to depend on others, usually family members, to facilitate visits with their children, which can be expensive for caregivers. The financial effect of imprisonment is not limited to immediate family members.
Grandparents who support their grandchildren during a father’s or mother’s imprisonment face financial difficulties as one of their main sources of trouble. In circumstances in which grandparents support the children of prisoners, particularly the children of incarcerated women, they will likely face financial adversity. In the United States, when mothers received assistance before imprisonment, those benefits are not always transferred to grandparents who later provide care.
Family Blaming And Social Disgrace
The experience of stigmatization among family members of those imprisoned is a recurring theme in the literature. The stigmatized individual is treated as an outsider and is exposed to hostility and/or a lack of support. An important feature of stigmatization is secrecy, which can result in more distress and suffering. For several families, fear of the perceived threats involved in revealing their situation might be greater than the experience of overt hostility. However, living in a continuous state of apparent danger and terror could cause difficulties on its own. There is a propensity to blame inmates’ families for their particular circumstances. The conduct of the offender is often extended to her or his family.
Therefore, family members are often treated as ‘guilty by association.’ For instance, imprisonment of a family member often results in an involuntary single-parent household. Single parenthood is often met with understanding and support. However, the non-incarcerated single parent is often denied this support. The single parent in these circumstances might describe the condition as involuntary, while others may view it as voluntary. The non-incarcerated single parent is often perceived as somehow at fault and thus undeserving of assistance and support. A study indicates that family members feel most stigmatized when interacting with authorities. Feelings of shame and experiences of stigmatization might be most obvious when family members visit correctional institutions. Family members often report feeling disrespected, mistreated, and shamed when visiting their imprisoned relatives. They often have to wait for hours without any indication of when, or whether, they will be allowed into the visiting centers. On entering, they are subjected to extensive security screenings and procedures, which can be particularly distressing for adults and young children. A young female saw her toy head torn off by the corrections officer who was examining the goods (Conerly et al., 2021).
Grief And Loss
Subjugated grief provides a theoretical framework for understanding grief in families affected by imprisonment. Subjugated grief happens when the understanding of damage is not, or cannot be, amenably recognized, openly spoken, or informally reinforced. Imprisonment creates such a situation because it results in the social death of a loved one, in which living family members may experience a significant sense of loss and grief. However, this type of loss is not socially recognized. Actually, in certain circumstances, family members of imprisoned persons encounter hostile, critical social attitudes linked to imprisonment that can worsen the suffering of losing a family member to incarceration. Another source of marginalized grief occurs when characteristics of the grieving person contribute to the marginalization of their sorrow. Children are an important example because they are often perceived by others as having little understanding of the loss. In the situation of parental imprisonment, the loss experienced by children tends to be overlooked, although research has indicated that these children experience a sense of loss and grief and report missing their imprisoned parents.
Children Of Imprisoned Parents
In 2007, there were more than two million minor children in the U.S. with imprisoned parents, signifying an 82% increase compared with 1991. It is also estimated that about 10 million additional children have parents who were imprisoned at some point in their lives. Although a large number of children are affected by parental imprisonment, very little is known about these children, and they continue to be overlooked by the criminal justice and social service systems. Presently, there is no rule requiring courts or police to ask at the time of arrest or sentencing whether a prisoner has children. Consequently, the true scope of the problem is unknown. However, it has been argued that the well-being of these children is critically important to the future well-being of society. Studies have suggested that the children of imprisoned parents are among the most at-risk yet least visible populations of children. Parental imprisonment is an important risk factor for a range of adverse outcomes, particularly emotional and social problems, physical health and care, and interaction with parents.
Parental Contact
Without adequate access to the imprisoned parent, children might experience a disruption in parent-child attachment, which could adversely affect their development. Yet, it is projected that more than half of all imprisoned parents do not get any calls from their kids, while the other half get rare visits. There are numerous features that might influence these data and figures. One such factor is that several jails are geographically inaccessible. This might prevent caregivers from facilitating visits because of the inconvenience, the inability to obtain enough time off work or time away from other responsibilities, or limited financial resources. Other factors might include unwelcoming visiting places that are not child- or family-friendly, or caregivers may have particular reasons for which they feel it is appropriate to limit interaction between children and the imprisoned parent (for example, domestic violence). Interaction through messages and phone calls is more common, but it is limited to those who have enough money to receive calls and obtain writing supplies. Written communication is also limited by one’s ability to read and write.
Conclusion
The United States has experienced an increase in imprisonment rates since the 1970s, and the numbers have continued to rise despite a comparatively steady crime rate. This occurrence of mass imprisonment has lasting effects. A large portion of the population is affected by a family member’s imprisonment, yet little is known about this population. Although strong family relationships can serve as a protective factor and reduce the risk of reoffending, few resources are available to help foster these relationships. The divorce rate among married prisoners is extremely high, and nearly half of all prisoners lose communication with their relatives and families during imprisonment.
These families can face significant economic hardship, leaving many in poverty and increasing their risk of further occupational, criminal, health, and academic problems. Family members experience a major sense of loss when a relative is imprisoned, yet this type of loss is not socially recognized. Therefore, these families might not be able to process their grief in a healthy way. The social stigma of incarceration is a recurring theme in the literature. Often, these family members are perceived as guilty by association. To avoid perceived or real danger, they may try to keep their situation hidden, which can further limit access to support and assistance.
A significant number of children are affected by parental imprisonment. These children have been found to have a higher risk of imprisonment; however, very few interventions are in place to reduce this risk. The extent to which a parent’s imprisonment affects a child depends on numerous factors, but these children commonly experience significant emotional costs, barriers to sustained contact with their imprisoned parents, risks of abuse and abandonment, and numerous unpredictable changes in caregiving arrangements. In addition, these children frequently feel isolated by their experience. Continued efforts must be directed toward making these programs more readily accessible and measuring their effectiveness. Efforts must also be made to increase community awareness and reduce the stigma experienced by these families (National Research Council, 2014).
References
National Research Council. (2014). The growth of incarceration in the United States: Exploring causes and consequences. The National Academies Press. https://www.nationalacademies.org/read/18613
Conerly, T. R., Holmes, K., & Tamang, A. L. (2021). Introduction to sociology 3e. OpenStax. https://openstax.org/details/books/introduction-sociology-3e
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