so you see? They've already given up on that child!” (Newjack, page 233). A study done showed that over 40% of inmates end up back in jail (Travis, 2000). A big part of this is poverty.
Granting children, the right to visit their incarcerated mothers is a contentious topic with both sides having strong claims and counterclaims. Terrance Bogans does an outstanding job in his essay, “Being Mommy Behind Bars: The Psychological Benefits of Child Visitation with Incarcerated Mothers” addressing why children should be allowed to visit their incarcerated mothers, citing many reasons and using many argumentative components. Bogans has an explicit thesis in the conclusion “Child visitation must be increased in order to alleviate the psychological strains that take place during incarceration” (15). Bogans uses this clearly stated thesis to tell his main point and to address his opposition. The author’s purpose is to convince readers that children and incarcerated mothers have a right to see each other and no one should stop that.
b. Claudette Braxton entered the system when she was four years old because of family dysfunction caused by illness and alcohol abuse. She explains how they didn’t provide nurturing relationships because of the lack of time, training and desire to do so. Braxton compared herself “to normal kids who had parents and all the other things she wished she could have” (Braxton 51). It is painful that someone knows little to nothing about these poor kids, they deserve the same consideration and respect just like
Not only does Berstein call for an overall reform of this nation’s juvenile prisons, she goes as far as saying the practice of locking up youth is in need of a “more profound than incremental and partial reform” (13). The fact that Bernstein outlines the numerous failed strategies and goals of this practice with her compelling use of studies and statistics is enough to promote an audience to reject the practice of locking up youth. The statistic she shares that “four out of five juvenile parolees [will be] back behind bars within three years of release” as well as the studies she conducted on numerous instances when a guards abuse of power lead to the death of a child work to further prove her point: being that “institution[s] as intrinsically destructive as the juvenile prison” have no place in a modern society (13, 83). Bernstein refutes this false sense effectiveness further by sharing her own ideas on what she believes works as a much more humane solution to rehabilitating
Furthermore, these families who took custody of toddler and teenagers also had a hard time guiding them on the bus, train, and taxis. Trips to the Correctional Facility was a burden for families, causing them not too visit whomever was incarcerated. For the women who are incarcerated families can be a source of support when serving their term in prison. For example, piper describes when families went to visit in prison women were extremely happy to have seen all of them (Kerman, 2011). Having the support from family can help and motivate the individual while in
Issues of Social and Economic Justice Throughout my experience in the Panhandle Promise Project, I had the opportunity to closely examine the injustice many of the clients experience based on their race, economic status, or in the criminal justice system. Since the starting of America’s war on drugs longer sentencing for drug offences that in violent crimes, there has been an increase of the number of minorities who are currently in prison (Wormer, Kaplan, and Juby (2012). For the children having a parent incarcerated affects them in several different ways, such as having a higher risk of being place in foster care (Andersen and Wildeman, 2014) , poor school performance (Eddy et al., 2014), food insecurity (Turney, 2014c), antisocial behavioral problems (Jarjoura et al., 2011f). For women who have been release from prison new barriers limit the assistance they will received, the ineligibility for food stamps (Travis, 2002), and in some cases the loss of their children custody (Welsh, 2014b).
This can be seen in the growing number of court-involved status offenders who were being detained and placed outside of their homes for noncriminal behavior (Shubik & Kendall, 2007). Following multiple studies and research, the President’s Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of Justice recommended that the juvenile court be the agency of last resort and that community-based organizations, not penal institutions, should be responsible for these youths (Shubik & Kendall, 2007; Farrington,
Children faced many challenges through life. These challenges prevent children from adjusting to different situations. A child whose parents are incarcerated will experience adjustment difficulties. Coleman,2013,states“Children of incarcerated parents exhibit higher levels of antisocial behavior, delinquent behavior, mental health problems and cognitive delays. (p.211) Unfortunately, children of incarcerated parents experience challenges until they’re adults.
The main idea of, “Parents Go to Jail” is that many parents go to jail because they lie to give them a better education to get them somewhere in life. As much sacrafice as it takes the parents will do what has to be done to help their children succed in life. In the article “Parents Go to Jail”, it states that parents are only allowed to send there children to schools in the neighborhood and not to anyother school outside the neighborhood. In the article it states that in Michigan ,”parents can be jailed for up to 20 days,and in Oklahoma,the sentance maybe up to a year”.
Within the urban communities, negative perceptions are magnified. Adolescents are more prone to be a product of their environment, especially those whose parents are incarcerated. Because of this trend adolescents are being incarcerated at an alarming rate and sentenced to adult facilities. Lambie & Randall (2013) states, the United States have imposed harsher penalties on serious young offenders, and have consequently increased rates of incarcerated youth and made it easier for youth to be treated and incarcerated as adults within the justice
The article talks about the various ways on how states can allow families to see their loved ones who are incarcerated. One of the main reasons why someone were not able to see their loved one or significant other is because of how far the prison or jail is placed. Every family member is not going to have the chance to go for a visit and this is the cause of families not having the opportunity to connect with them while being incarcerated. There are many people who are incarcerated and would rather be at home with their family. The only thing that they need to do is realize that someone is there to help them get in the community, back with their family.
Many children lose both of their parents every year to their parents being incarcerated. There are programs in the prison designed to mothers and fathers who can still be a parent from inside the prison. Families affected by parental incarceration face many challenges: separation, stigmatization, disruption in the home environment, and the loss of family income. These challenges have been associated with negative outcomes for children, including poor parental bonding, and internalizing and externalizing, and low school achievement. It is sad to say but only 10% of the fathers participate in the parenting classes.
Every year in the United States, an estimated 250,000 children under the age of 18 are tried and imprisoned as adults. In fact, about 100,000 of these children end up in adult jails and prisons. Fourteen states in the U.S don’t even have a minimum age for trying children as adults. This topic has caused great debate all across the nation. While many people are in favor of trying children as adults, others are not very fond of the idea and strongly disagree.
Children need to feel secure and loved and need supervision and guidance. If a parent cannot be present to care for and look after their children, it can cause the child to feel afraid and they may act out or behave in ways that they would not if the parent were living with them. Several studies have found that a significant number of children of incarcerated parents struggle with a variety of childhood problems that have long term implications for adult adjustment (Kjellstrand, 2012). Even if children visit parents in while they are incarcerated, the physical and emotional distance can become a strain on their relationship. I think more should be done to encourage courts to take families into consideration in sentencing and correctional facilities should have better resources for incarcerated parents to maintain healthy relationships with their children.
There are differences between a juvenile court and criminal court in the United States. The focus of the juvenile justice system is on rehabilitation, in hope of deterring the minor away from a life of crime so they will not commit a crime again as an adult. In contrast, the criminal justice system focuses on the punishment and often bases the sentencing outcome on the criminal history of the youth. In a study conducted, Butler (2011) showed that the participants’ experience with adult jails and prisons show that those facilities may instill fear but are otherwise emotionally—and often physically—dangerous for youth. Many of the adult prisoners, who were minors when they enter the adult institution, felt they were forced to “grow
