Every time a crime is committed there are more victims other than the direct victims. Amongst these one finds the family of the direct victim as well as the family members of the offender, including the children. Prisoners’ children are often overlooked in research and in the designing of social and educational programs. Yet many children and adolescents suffer upsetting consequences as a result of their parent’s incarceration. This research will focus primarily on the influences of parental incarceration and their impact on the children’s and adolescent’s behaviour, school performance, self image and self esteem.
1. The nature and purpose of the research
This study was originally worked out in 2005 in preparation for a conference held in Malta concerning "Child Victims". This was held in November of that year and MDD gave a short presentation of the main findings of the research. However, work continued to be done on the study and here it is presented in its final form.
From the beginning, the research was intended to be of an explorative and quantitative nature. Its main aim was to “identify and measure the effects of incarceration of a parent upon the child” (Guidelines for the interviewer about the administration of the questionnaire).
2. Literature review
The literature review was mainly composed of local and foreign theses, readings and articles based upon studies that in some way focused on the effects of incarceration of a parent/s upon children and adolescents.
The following series of quotes are given here as reflections prior to going into MDD's research study itself in the Results page. These quotes were part of the literature review exercise studied by MDD before formulating the questionnaire and engaging itself with the interviews.
IN GENERAL
In general, it may be stated that no statistics exist in Malta concerning prisoners' children. The information, though possibly captured indirectly by prison authorities, is certainly not tabulated.
“No government in Europe, North America or elsewhere appears to know how many children within its jurisdiction are affected by the imprisonment of a parent” (Cini, 1999: 68).
“Many of these youngsters suffer more than their own parents as a result of the sentence” (Cini, 1999: 70).
SEPERATION (General)
“For most inmates who face a prison term, their families will also begin a sentence of physical, social and psychological hardship” (Jorgensen, Hernandez and Warren, 1986: 47).
“The impact on a particular family depends on whether the crisis is recurrent or unique” (Morris, 1965: 86).
“When children are involved it is the loss of the person that is the concern which is mostly felt by the children” (Debattista, 2003: 36).
“Effects [on children may be] loneliness, sadness, insecurity and helplessness” (Cini, 1999: 63).
“Children of incarcerated parents are commonly exposed to a series of preceding traumas” (Cini, 1999: 63).
“When punishing a person, one is punishing his family” (Balwin et al., 1990).
“Separation resulting from parental incarceration is unique in the effect it has” (Fritsch and Burkhead, 1981: 83).
“Paternal incarceration was influential on the academic performance and self-esteem of the children in the sample, however not on the adolescents’” (Calleja and Psaila, 2003: 62).
SEPERATION FROM MOTHER
“Women still remain primarily responsible for child care, and when a woman is sent to prison the problem of who is to care for her children while she is away is a very real one” (Cooklin, 1989: 69).
“In a society where the primary caregiver is the mother, her absence is a severe blow to children, often relegating them to the care of relatives or foster parents” (Jorgensen et al., 1986: 50).
“Maternal incarceration has more negative effects on children” (Cini, 1999: 65).
“The negative effects of maternal imprisonment seem to be experienced to a greater degree, since children of female prisoners are two-thirds more likely to be placed with extended families, friends or foster caregivers then are children of male prisoners” (Harris, 1996: 32).
FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS
“Parents who are in prison face many problems in maintaining meaningful relationships with their children” (Cini, 1999: 65).
“Maternal incarceration is more likely to leave responsibilities in the hands of the older children” (Cini, 1999: 66).
“If a family member has been in prison for some years, young people will have grown up and changed by the time of release. They will also have taken on a different role within the family possibly with extra responsibilities” (Brown et al., 2001: 43).
“One of the incarcerated parents’ concerns is that they might be replaced in their children’s lives (Cini, 1999: 67).
“It is not incarceration per se that breaks the family but the type of relationship enjoyed prior to incarceration” (Cini, 1999: 68).
SOCIAL WORK
“Children, who from a very young age [...] have gone through several traumas, [need social work]” (Cini, 1999: 63).
“Children need to be assisted with their emotional and psychological changes” (Cini, 1999: 64).
“Children need constant support through [...] incarceration” (Cini, 1999: 64).
SCHOOL PERFORMANCE
“A decline in school performance is very much associated with the incarceration of a parent” (Friedman and Esselstyn, quoted in Jorgensen et al: 1986: 48).
“Sometimes, [school performance is] increased when teachers at school are not aware of the reasons for the children’s behaviour” (Debattista, 2003: 13–14).
“[Children’s] performance in school [...] declined as did their attendance rate” (Debattista, 2003: 14).
“Some of the prisoners’ offspring [...] seek a lot of attention” (Calleja and Psaila, 2003: 52).
“[Most teachers] lack [...] experience or knowledge on how to handle [prisoners’ children]” (Calleja and Psaila, 2003: 53).
“The academic performance results indicate that the children were more adversely affected than the adolescents during paternal incarceration” (Calleja and Psaila, 2003: 53).
“Although the children in the sample scored higher than the adolescents in global self-worth [...], the children fared worse when compared to their peers while no such difference was found for the adolescents” (Calleja and Psaila, 2003: 54).
“Adolescents are capable of coping better than children when faced with negative situations” (Calleja and Psaila, 2003: 55).
SOCIAL ADAPTATION
Children are “more aggressive toward each other, less obedient and more antisocial” (Jorgensen et al., 1986: 48).
“Problematic behaviour, such as stealing, truancy, school failure, and fighting will tend to increase among children of prisoners rather than decrease” (Debattista, 2003: 16).
THE SYSTEM
“Children do not look at the system in a very positive way. Social workers claimed that children tend to look at the system in a negative way - unkind, unjust and cruel” (Cini, 1999: 69).
“When children are caught up in the punishment meted out to their parent [the] concept of ‘justice’ becomes confused” (Cini, 1999: 70).
OFFENDING
“Children of offenders are far more likely than other children to enter the criminal justice system” (Johnston, quoted in Gabel and Johnston, 1995: 80).
“Traumatised children attempt to cope with challenges and increase their sense of control by organising [negative] behaviours into patterns. And when options for utilising adaptive patterns of coping behaviours do not exist, trauma-reactive children will choose accessible but maladaptive coping mechanisms, such as gang activity, that meet the same ends. The long-term outcome of most maladaptive coping mechanisms is delinquency or adult crime” (Johnston, quoted in Gael and Johnston, 1995: 80).
“Persons who experience violence in their childhood are more likely to favour violence as a means of achieving personal ends when they are adults” (Owens and Straus, quoted Deaux et al., 1993: 277).
CONTACT VISITS
“When children are involved someone has to assess whether visiting is harmful to them or not” (Debattista, 2003: 36).
“Contacts are [...] important so that [...] children are assured that their parent still exists and so that feelings of loss are mitigated, and ongoing support could be provided” (Debattista, 2003: 36).
“Contact visits help to keep a close relationship between children and incarcerated parents” (Cini, 1999: 68).
“Prisoners’ children are confused and distressed when visiting their father, even when the relationship before incarceration was not very good” (Galea, 2005: 23).
FOREIGN STUDIES CONSULTED
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Balwin, Cooke and Howinson (1990) Psychology in Prison, Routledge: London
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Brown et al. (2001)
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Cooklin, A.I. (1989) “Tenderness and toughness in the face of distress”, Palliative Care, 3, 89–95: USA.
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Deaux, K., Dane, F. C., & Wrightsman, L. S. (1993) Social Psychology in the 90s, 6th ed., Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole Publishing Co.: USA.
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Friedman, S. and T.C. Essestyn (1965) “The Adjustment of Children to Parental Absence Due to Imprisonment”, Federal Probation,29, 55–59: USA.
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Fritsch, T.A. and Burkhead, J.D. (1981), “Behavioural reactions of children to parental absence due to imprisonment”, Family Relations, 30, 83–88: USA.
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Gabel, K. & Johnston, D., eds. (1995), Children of Incarcerated Parents, Lexington Books: New York.
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Harris (1996)
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Jorgensen, J. D., Hernandez, S. H., & Warren, R. C.. (1986), “Addressing the social needs of families of prisoners: A tool for inmate rehabilitation”, Federal Probation, 50 (4), 47–52: USA.
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Morris, Pauline (1965) Prisoners and Their Families, Hart Publishing Co.: New York.
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Owens, D., & Straus, M. (1975) “The Social Structure of Violence in Childhood and Approval of Violence as an Adult”, Aggressive Behavior, 1, 193-211: USA.
LOCAL STUDIES CONSULTED
- Calleja, Daniela and Psiala, Kathleen (2003) Paternal Incarceration: Its Influence on Self-Esteem and Educational Performance in Childhood and Adolescence, unpublished dissertation for B.Educ. (Hons.), University of Malta.
- Cini, Daniela (1999) Children of Prisoners: Their Problems and Needs, unpublished dissertation for B.A. (Hons.) Social Work, University of Malta.
- Debattista, Lara (2003) Social Work Intervention with Families of Prisoners, unpublished dissertations for B.A. (Hons.) Social Work, University of Malta.
- Galea, Lorraine (2005) Behind Bars: The Meaning of the Experience of Life in Prison, unpublished dissertation for B.Psych. (Hons.), University of Malta
3. The formulation of the questionnaire
Following the completion of the literature review, the questions of the questionnaire were slowly formulated. The formulation of the questionnaire was made during meetings which included long discussions on the subject. Questions were constructed in such a way so as to convey respect and sensitivity towards the participants and their parents.
4. The structure of the questionnaire
The questionnaire had a total of 53 questions spread over 3 sections.
The first section sought to gather information from the parent/legal guardian of the child/adolescent regarding:
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Demographic information about the child
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The duration of the parent’s incarceration
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The child’s family and home environment
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Effects possibly resulting from the parent’s incarceration
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The child’s scholastic achievement before and after commencement of the incarceration
The second section sought to gather information from the child/adolescent him/herself regarding:
- His/her perception of his/her family
- The incarcerated parent
- Relationship with peers before and after the commencement of the incarceration
- The child/adolescent’s self-image and esteem
It also seeks to identify how the child/adolescent of the incarcerated parent views:
- Contact visits, and
- The judiciary system
The third section allowed the interviewer to mark and make notes arising from observing:
- The nature of the child, as well as
- The participant’s home environment and locality of residence
Two versions of questionnaires were used in this study: one for children below the age of 11 and another for adolescents over the age of 12. While both included questions concerning the information mentioned above, the children's version tackled the issues using simpler terminology. The adolescents' version sought to explore their views regarding the judicial system in a deeper manner.
Furthermore, certain questions or whole sections were not asked to a number of participants since they did not know that their parent was imprisoned (i.e., so as not to show them and/or create trauma).
5. Choosing the participants
Originally it had been planned that the Random Sampling Method be used. Yet this could not be done as the prison Director could not, in compliance with the Data Protection Act, provide us with a list of the inmates’ names and other personal information.
Instead, the Convenience Sampling Method was used. MDD volunteers who have access to the prisons personally asked the inmates whether they would allow their children to participate in this study.
Eventually, the children of all those inmates who accepted and still had parental rights were included in the study. A small number of inmates who had given their permission had lost their parental rights. In such cases permission was sought from, yet refused by, concerned authorities. There were four such cases. All four children were ‘in care’.
In total there were 18 Maltese children above the age of 3 and below the age of 16 who had one or both parents at the prisons. Of these 86% were under 12 years of age while 14% were over 13 years. The number may seem unrealistically small. However, one has to bear in mind that, of the 300 prisoners that were incarcerated at the time of the sampling (i.e. early summer of 2005), about one-third were foreigners. Most of the remaining Maltese inmates were very young males with no offspring yet at all. The larger part of those who did have children had toddlers below the age of three and so unfit for the research.
6. Choosing the interviewers
Available volunteers at Daritama and other persons who practice in the field of social work were asked to act as interviewers. All those who accepted were given training on how to administer the questionnaire. During the training, a number of guidelines were presented and potential interviewers were instructed to act sensitively.
7. Administering the questionnaire
Participants’ personal details were obtained from the detainees at the prisons. Each volunteer was assigned two participants. The arrangement for an appointment was done by telephone. The questionnaire was administered through a home visit.
Before administering the questionnaire to the participants:
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The parent/legal guardian was asked to sign a consent form stating that he/she gave the child permission to participate in the study and MDD permission to use results whilst guaranteeing confidentiality and anonymity.
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The guardian was also asked whether the child was aware of the parent’s incarceration.
B. Limitations
These are some of the study’s limitations:
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The Sampling Method used
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Limited number of participants
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Availability of participants
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Two participants could not really speak
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Consent to carry out study with children in the Minister’s care was refused
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Thus, the number of participants was lower than expected, effecting representation levels
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The original coordinator of the study had to drop out as a result of personal exigencies
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No pilot study was carried out, one reason being that there was a very limited number of potential participants
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Some questions were not asked to children who were not aware of their parent’s incarceration
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Some participants were mere siblings
8. Acknowledgements
This research would not have been possible without the valuable work done by the following persons, to whom goes MDD's profound gratitude:
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