Coparenting, Negative Educational Outcomes, and Familial Instability in Justice-involved Families

"Fear of the Unknown": Coparenting With an Incarcerated Individual

Over 2.2 million individuals are currently incarcerated in prisons and jails across the United States. Having a family member incarcerated impacts the entire family system. Recent research has shown the relational consequences of incarceration, such as adjusting to and negotiating new rules and roles within the coparenting relationship. The coparenting relationship is multifaceted and necessitates empirical evidence that significantly honors the voices that are at the center of experience but typically silenced by the stigma and prejudice nature of incarceration and its coinciding consequences. Coparenting partners of incarcerated individuals were interviewed to understand the lived experience of incarcerated coparenting using a phenomenological approach. Four themes (positive relationship, stigma, seeking and providing support, and impact of incarceration) emerged from eleven interviews. Implications are provided on how to best advocate for this population through research, clinical work, and policy.

Criticism, Compassion, and Conspiracy Theories: A Thematic Analysis of What Twitter Users Are Saying About COVID-19 in Correctional Settings

We examined Twitter data using thematic analysis to understand public perceptions of the impact of COVID-19 on incarcerated people and reactions to including incarcerated populations in the early phases of the vaccine rollout. Our findings from n = 513 Tweets yielded six themes: Twitter as usual, Advocacy, Deserve to suffer, Vaccine priority debate, Inadequate response, and Misinformation. Stigma-laden statements cut across themes, highlighting the role pathologizing beliefs play in forming opinions about incarcerated people in public health crises. Trust of government response and buy-in to public health communication are positively associated with adherence to guidelines. Although public health decisions are derived from logic and research, our findings indicate that public perception may be driven by personal morals and stigma associated with justice-involved individuals. We recommend that attention be turned toward effective policy messaging, and use of social media, to increase trust and decrease stigma that tends to dominate societal perception.

The Effect of Peer Influence and Neighborhood Quality on Incarcerated Fathers' Attachment

Commonly referred to as the "hidden victims" of incarceration, children with a parent who is intermittently or repeatedly incarcerated face various challenges that exacerbate behavioral and psychological development. Using a baseline adaptation of the Multi-site Family Study on Incarceration, Parenting and Partnering (MFS-IP), we sought to clarify how peer influence and neighborhood quality can predict the extent of an incarcerated father's attachment to the focal child and partner. Results showed a negative association between negative peer influence and poor neighborhood quality. Conversely, incarcerated fathers' relationship with their biological mother and fathers produced a significant positive association. These findings propose that risk and protective factors can directly influence attachment levels with the focal child, as suggested by Social Control Theory. This article provides a basis for a more comprehensive understanding of clinical support that can be offered to children and families who bear the systemic societal mechanisms of incarceration.

Collaborative Healthcare in Incarcerated Settings

A total of 2,162,400 adults were incarcerated in the United States in 2016. Sub-optimal health status, existing healthcare disparities, and fragmented healthcare delivery among incarcerated populations are concerning and warrant redress. This article highlights the need for and discusses the benefits of collaboration between healthcare professionals in incarcerated settings. The roles of primary care health professionals, pharmacists, and medical family therapists (MedFTs) in correctional facilities are outlined. Through integrated healthcare models, enhanced communication, improved continuity of care, and holistic treatment plans, existing gaps in healthcare delivery in correctional facilities can be filled. By working together and assuming nontraditional roles, medical professionals can help improve health outcomes of incarcerated individuals. Collaborative healthcare models in incarcerated settings can elevate public health in a cost-effective, yet positive manner.

The Association between Perpetuation of Intimate Partner Violence and Family Support on Couples with an Incarcerated Partner

The ripple effect of incarceration is multifaceted. Studies show that imprisonment impacts the well-being of intimate and extended familial relationships, parental involvement, and financial support. Using data from the Multi-site Family Study on Incarceration, Parenting, and Partnering [MFS-IP], this study examined the effects of incarceration on families. The focus of this study is to examine the effect of family support on perpetrating physical violence. The findings revealed that the actor effect for men (p < 0.05) is statistically significant, meaning that men with less family support perpetuate higher levels of intimate partner violence (IPV). The partner effects for men to women (p < 0.05) is also statistically significant, meaning women with less family support coincide with men's higher levels of IPV perpetration. Further, the effect of romantic attachment on perpetrating physical violence for men (p = 0.034) is statistically significant, meaning higher levels of romantic attachment towards the female partner coincides with their lower levels of perpetration of IPV. Clinical implications and future directions are provided.

The Tadros Theory: A Clinical Supervision Framework for Working with Incarcerated Individuals and Their Families

As a result of mass incarceration and the deinstitutionalization of mental health, carceral settings in the USA are in dire need of systemic therapy. Therapists treating the incarcerated face unique challenges that therapists in traditional settings do not, like security risks, maintaining confidentiality, navigating dual relationships, and acquiring appropriate training. As such, it is imperative that carceral therapists have access to incarcerated informed clinical supervision. Yet, the literature on this is sparse. In this paper, we propose the Tadros Theory of Change, a clinical supervision framework for working with incarcerated individuals and their families. Multicultural and ethical considerations are explored.

Romantic attachment, childhood stability, depression, and PTSD in couples with an incarcerated partner

Incarceration has a multitude of effects on prisoners' finances, health, education, employment, and family relationships. Incarceration complicates the maintenance of attachment bonds between romantic partners. Data from the Multi-site Family Study on Incarceration, Parenting, and Partnering were analyzed to examine the effects of childhood stability on adult romantic attachment while controlling for the effects of PTSD and depression within the carceral population. Findings indicate that posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression have statistically significant effects on adult romantic attachment. PTSD on romantic attachment for men is statistically significant (p < 0.05) at -0.193 with an overall standardized effect of -0.086. For women, the effect is statistically significant (p < 0.01) at -0.235 with an overall standardized effect of -0.1. Effects of depression on romantic attachment for men is statistically significant (p < 0.001) -0.129 with an overall standardized effect of -0.229. For women, depression is also statistically significant (p < 0.001) at -0.153 with a standardized effect of -0.265. We examined the effects of childhood stability on adult romantic attachment while controlling for the effects of PTSD and depression within the carceral population. Findings supported our hypothesis that individuals with better childhood stability will experience better romantic attachments. Findings related to our hypothesis that having a partner with better childhood stability is positively associated with better romantic attachment produced mixed results. Clinical implications are discussed, and future directions call for research, practice, and training to improve outcomes for justice-involved romantic partners, their attachment, and consideration of covariates of depression and PTSD.

Coparenting and Mental Health in Families with Jailed Parents

The number of families affected by parental incarceration in the United States has increased dramatically in the past three decades, with primarily negative implications for adult mental health and child and family well-being. Despite research documenting increased strain on coparenting relationships, less is known regarding the relation between adult mental health and coparenting quality. This study investigated coparenting in families with young children currently experiencing parental incarceration. In a diverse sample of 86 jailed parent-caregiver dyads (n = 172), this analysis of a short-term longitudinal study examined the links among jailed parents' and children's at-home caregivers' externalizing mental health symptoms and perceived coparenting alliance quality using the Actor-Partner Interdependence Model. Analyses using structural equation modeling revealed a medium sized negative partner effect for externalizing behaviors on coparenting alliance for jailed parents, wherein caregivers increased externalizing symptoms related to jailed parents' lower reported coparenting quality. Caregiver-partner effects and both actor effects resulted in small effects. These findings highlight the roles of mental health and coparenting relationship quality when a parent is incarcerated and contribute to the existing literature on incarcerated coparenting, with implications for theory and practice.