Children with Incarcerated Parents: Student needs and Implications for Consultation

1. Children with Incarcerated Parents: Student needs and Implications for Consultation School psychologists have the unique opportunity to help students with a wide range of unique needs through the consultation process. It is part of a school psychologist’s job to identify risk and resiliency factors of students in order to help them be as successful as possible. The purpose of this presentation is to summarize the literature related to the unique needs of children who have an incarcerated parent and the implications these needs have for school psychologists, in relation to internalizing and externalizing problems, school success, and future outcomes. The summary will include a review of the challenges facing students with an incarcerated parent, the stigma attached to having a parent in prison, teacher experiences with these students, risk and resiliency factors, and outcome factors related to mental health and school success. Implications for teacher and school-wide consultation will then be discussed. The participants will gain a better understanding of how they can directly aid teachers of students with an incarcerated parent and indirectly serve those students through the consultation process. ABSTRACT INTRODUCTION A review of literature was conducted. The researcher accessed the PsychInfo database to carry out all literature searches. All searches were limited to peer-reviewed journal articles that were published in the last ten years. The following keyword search terms were utilized: *children with incarcerated parent*; *Parental incarceration*; *parent* and *prison* or *jail* or *incarceration*. The summary will include clear descriptions of student needs, stigma, risk and resiliency factors, mental health and school success outcomes and the implications for school consultation. METHOD SUMMARY IMPLICATIONS FOR PSYCHOLOGISTS Work to end the stigma • Promote the awareness of this at-risk group and their unique struggles • Help teachers and staff evaluate their own biases and educate them on the effects of teacher and peer stigmatization • Encourage teachers to use a broader definition of family in the classroom REFERENCES Bocknek, E. L., Sanderson, J, & Britner, P. A. (2009). Ambiguous loss and posttraumatic stress in school-age children of prisoners. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 18(3), 323-333. Dallaire, D. H., Ciccone, A., & Wilson, L. C. (2010). Teachers’ experiences with and expectations of children with incarcerated parents. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 31(4), 281-290. Gabel, S. Children of incarcerated and criminal parents: Adjustment, behavior, and prognosis. (1992). Bulletin of the American Academy of Psychiatry 7 the Law, 20(1), 33-45. Lange, S. M. (2000). The challenges confronting children of incarcerated parents. Journal of Psychotherapy & the Family, 11(4), 61-68. Miller, K. M. (2006). The impact of parental incarceration of children: An emerging need for effective interventions. Child & Adolescent Social Work Journal, 23(4), 472-486. Nesmith, A. & Ruhland, E. (2008). Children of incarcerated parents: Challenges and resiliency, in their own words. Children and Youth Services Review, 30(10), 1119-1130. Phillips, S. D. & Gates, T. (2011). A conceptual framework for understanding the stigmatization of children of incarcerated parents. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 20(3), 286-294. Poehlmann, J., Dallaire, D., Loper, A. B., & Shear, L. D. (2010). Children’s contact with their incarcerated parents: Research findings and recommendations. American Psychologist, 65(6), 575-598. PROBLEM: Having an incarcerated parent is a risk factor that is often overlooked Children with incarcerated parents are now one of the largest at-risk populations in the United States due to the increasing number of individuals with children being incarcerated(Miller, 2006). Current estimates indicate that about 1.7 million children have a parent who is incarcerated in prison while millions more have a parent in jail (Poehlmann, et al., 2010). Parental incarceration leads to problems for the child in the family, school, and social context. MENTAL HEALTH: High prevalence of posttraumatic stress, internalizing and externalizing behaviors Bocknek, et al., 2009). Hiding the fact that a parent is incarcerated from people has been shown to evolve into child social withdrawal, childhood emotional and behavioral problems, and lack of help seeking (Phillips & Gates, 2011). FAMILY: Parental criminal behavior can lead to an intergenerational pattern of criminal behavior which may result in poor school outcomes, behavior problems, and increased rates of substance abuse (Lange, 2000; Poehlmann, et al., 2010). Increased economic stress for the remaining household (Miller, 2006). Children of incarcerated parents identify feeling stressed about being socially isolated and worrying about the wellbeing of the parent (Nesmith & Ruhland, 2008). Ball State University Brittney Klauser, M.A. SCHOOL AND STIGMA: Increased risk for academic failure and school dropout Teacher perceptions show a significant academic stigma of children with incarcerated parents (Dallaire et al., 2010) Teachers that are aware that a mother is absent due to incarceration rate the child as less competent than if they do not know why the mother is away. Parental incarceration is a growing problem. Children of incarcerated parents experience a significant amount of stigma in the schools. They are at risk for academic failure and dropout, emotional and behavioral problems, and difficulties in family adjustment which can lead to a lack of help-seeking. Parental incarceration should be viewed in relation to the need of the child and understood from the point of view of its meaning for the individual child, the family, and parental management practices (Gabel, 1992). • Remember some children may adapt well to having a parent removed, but others may benefit from supports and therapeutic interventions • Children also demonstrated resiliency by being able to locate other venues of support outside the family unit (Nesmith & Ruhland, 2008). • Be aware of community resources with which you can connect the child • Keep the student socially connected with after school activities or sports • Create or recommend support groups • Refer the student to mentoring programs