Parental Incarceration and Child Development: Unique Needs and Specialized Supports

Two new publications from The Bendheim Thoman Center for Research on Child Wellbeing (CRCW) at Princeton University, examine the effects of parents’ incarceration on their children, a relationship that suggests the need for holistic, multi-system supports for families affected by incarceration Parental Incarceration and Child Well-Being: Implications for Urban Families finds that children of incarcerated parents face unique hardships, including more economic and residential instability than their peers, and that sons of incarcerated fathers demonstrate more behavioral problems. Beyond Absenteeism: Father Incarceration and its Effects on Children’s Development presents further consequences for children’s development. The authors find evidence that children of incarcerated fathers are significantly more likely than peers to externalize problems at age five, among other effects. Both publications point to the need for specialized supports for children of incarcerated parents and the potential for effective interventions at the point of incarceration.

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