Children of the Prison Boom:
Mass Incarceration and Childhood Wellbeing
Sara Wakefield
School of Criminal Justice
Rutgers University
sara.wakefield@rutgers.edu
 Frequent Collaborator:

Chris Wildeman (Cornell)
 Also see the work of Kristin
Turney (UC-Irvine)
 Annotated Bibliography of
Additional Research:

www.johnjayresearch.org/
pri
① Linking Mass Incarceration and Childhood
Wellbeing
② Individual-Level Effects of Parental Incarceration on
Children
③ Implications for Social Inequality and Long-Term
Harm
④ Undoing the Damage
1. Mass Incarceration
Linking Mass Incarceration and Children

 Historically novel, comparatively extreme.
 Common life experience for the urban poor.
 Resulting in the “systematic incarceration of whole
groups.”
2005
2003
2001
1999
1997
1995
1993
1991
1989
1987
1985
1983
1981
1979
1977
1975
1973
1971
1969
1967
1965
1963
1961
1959
1957
1955
1953
1951
1949
1947
1945
1943
1941
1939
1937
1935
1933
1931
1929
1927
1925
U.S. Incarceration Rate 1925-1974
600
500
400
300
200
100
-
2005
2003
2001
1999
1997
1995
1993
1991
1989
1987
1985
1983
1981
1979
1977
1975
1973
1971
1969
1967
1965
1963
1961
1959
1957
1955
1953
1951
1949
1947
1945
1943
1941
1939
1937
1935
1933
1931
1929
1927
1925
U.S. Incarceration Rate 1925-2005
600
500
400
300
200
100
-
International Comparison of Incarceration Rates
HS Dropouts
All Men
62.5
Black
14.7
14.8
White
4.2
22.8
Black
9
2.8
1.2
White
0
10
20
30
1970-74
40
1945-49
50
60
70
Percentage of Children with an Incarcerated Parent
12.00%
11.40%
10.10%
10.00%
8.00%
6.60%
6.00%
3.70%
4.00%
3.20%
3.50%
2.60%
2.00%
1.80%
1.30%
1.40%
0.90%
0.40%
0.00%
1980
1990
Black
Source: Western & Pettit, 2009
2000
Hispanic
White
2008
2. Parental Incarceration Effects
Mental Health and Behavioral Problems, Homelessness, Infant Mortality, and Caregiver-Child Relationships

 For Fathers:
 Global and consequential
 Nearly always in the direction of harm for non-violent
fathers
 For Mothers
 Variable and less consistent
 As often protective as harmful?
 Larger Implications
 The Concentration of Incarceration in Families
 Social Inequality and Race Gaps in Childhood Wellbeing
 Mental Health and Behavioral Problems: All children
experience some of them, and they predict everything
from dropout to teen pregnancy to crime
 Homelessness: Good insight into most marginalized
children, and massive increases in black-white gaps
since 1980.
 Infant Mortality: Considered the best measure of child
health, and black-white inequalities have stubbornly
held steady.
 Caregiver-Child Relationship: Possible important
mechanism
Mental Health and Behavioral Problems
7.00%
6.00%
5.00%
4.00%
3.00%
2.00%
1.00%
0.00%
Internalizing
Externalizing
Total
Aggression, Infant Mortality, and Childhood Homelessness
120%
100%
80%
60%
40%
20%
0%
Aggression
Infant Mortality
Homelessness (Black Children)
Positive and Negative Parenting Behaviors and Conflict Resolution
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0
*
**
Negative Conflict, NonPhysical
Negative Conflict,
Physical
-0.1
-0.2
Emotional/Verbal
Responsivity
Emotional Climate
Positive Parenting Behaviors
Positive Conflict
Resolution
Negative Parenting Behaviors
Physically Aggressive Behaviors by Crime Type and Abuse History
Infant Mortality
Summary of Individual-Level Findings
 Paternal incarceration increases:
 Behavioral problems
 Physically aggressive behaviors
 Homelessness
 Infant mortality
 Risk of conflict, abuse, and neglect by caregivers
 Effects usually absent in cases of a violent father or
a history of domestic abuse in the family
 The incarceration of a non-violent father is a global
harm for children
3. Aggregating Up Harms
The Concentration of Incarceration in Families and Social Inequality

Race Differences in the Concentration of Incarceration in Families
Three or More
Two
One
Zero
0%
10%
20%
30%
Black Children
40%
50%
White Children
60%
70%
80%
Externalizing Problems Internalizing Problems
The Contribution of Paternal Incarceration for Racial Inequality in Childhood Wellbeing
46%
25%
26%
Total Behavior
Problems
14%
10%
5%
0
0.05
0.1
0.15
0.2
0.25
0.3
0.35
1990 Levels of Incarceration (Vs. Zero Incarceration)
1978 Levels of Incarceration (Vs. Zero Incarceration)
0.4
0.45
0.5
The Contribution of Paternal Incarceration for Racial Inequality in Childhood Wellbeing
65%
Homelessness
38%
13%
Infant Mortality
7%
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
1990 Levels of Incarceration (Vs. Zero Incarceration)
1978 Levels of Incarceration (Vs. No Incarceration)
0.6
0.7
4. Undoing the Damage
Summary and Unanswered Questions

 When we think about the forces that shape wellbeing
among American children, we tend to think mostly
about things like neighborhoods, schools, and families.
 The penal system ought to be added to the list.
 Interventions best found outside of the criminal
justice system
 Enhancing social safety net
 Strengthening interventions in the poorest
neighborhoods to reduce the damaging effects of
crime and incarceration
 *Smart* reductions in the incarceration rate
 For children with currently incarcerated parents
 To reduce the likelihood of the experience for
children at risk for parental incarceration
 Questions?

Wakefield, Sara. 2014. “Accentuating the Positive or
Eliminating the Negative? Father Incarceration and CaregiverChild Relationship Quality.” Journal of Criminal Law and
Criminology 104, 4.

Wakefield, Sara, and Christopher Wildeman. 2011. Mass
Imprisonment and Racial Disparities in Childhood Behavioral
Problems. Criminology & Public Policy 10:793-817.

Wakefield, Sara and Christopher Wildeman. 2013. Children of
the Prison Boom: Mass Incarceration and the Future of
American Inequality. New York: Oxford University Press.

Wakefield, Sara and Christopher Uggen. 2010. “Incarceration
and Stratification.” Annual Review of Sociology 36: 387-406.
Future Disadvantage
Prior Disadvantage
Incarceration