Ivonne F. The problem with parents going to prison is the outcome affect it has on the child, along with how the child deals with the situation. The child doesn't necessary pay any price for the parent's actions. As human beings we are influenced by others actions. Family plays a huge role on a child's future well being. The child has a mind of its own to have the ability of he or she will make of the situation. Whether the child wants to become the same kind of person or different. Knowing going to prison isn't what a person ever wants to encounter. What the person makes out of the situation is all up to them. No one can control ones mind and be told otherwise. The problem being that society believes that child will end up in prison as the parent. -An interactionist would say only the child has the capacity to make its own decision. Unless, the child has committed the crime, it is not his or her fault. Only one self can choose what type of person they want to become. They're the own creator of their future. -A solution of a parent going to jail is viewing the situation in a positive ways. As an individual, a person knows what right from wrong. If the child doesn't have a strong parent figure in his or her life, then its all up to one's self to become the person they desire to become, making their own decisions. Not being influenced by negative acts. No one can take charge of your life, but no ones self. Only ones fate is in their hands. I agree with an interactionist's perspective of being influenced by one another. We become the person we are because of our pas experiences and the environment surrounding us.
After a child has been brought up, it needs you. We are not sea turtles we don't give birth and let the babies figure life out. Being a parent brings on certain types of responsibilities. Kids need nourishment, they need to feel secure, they must have guidance to grow up normally. As sad as it is true, these are unfit parents who can not think very responsibly, there is not a single excuse to put a child's future in jeopardy by committing a crime. There are more ways then one to support your family, it does not have to be illegal.
Kelly A When a parent is sentenced to prison or jail it not only puts a strain on their own life but also on that individual’s family, especially their children. Children who are accustomed to being with both parents and are suddenly stripped from one can cause confusion, depression and even anger. Children are innocent beings who are not capable of knowing the severity of being incarcerated, and for them their parents are “good” people. The fact that society has labeled their parents as “bad” can lead a child to ask why or how this could happen to a parent that they never see doing wrong. In our textbook we discuss the issue of an individual problem becoming a problem for society and even a problem for the nation. We can apply this idea to incarcerated parents. For example, a parent is incarcerated, a child then notices, he or she believes that “things happen” and eventually believe that crime, and jail are “normal”. Since we engage in normal behavior a child can then participate in such acts, and when they become incarcerated they consider it normal. There can also be this sense of justification from the child that the reason he or she commits crime and is in and out of jail is because they saw it throughout their childhood. This is where we see juvenile crime raise and becomes more than just an individualistic issue. To get a better understanding we must use our sociological imagination in order to see that children are the ones who deal with this time the hardest. The reason I say this is because, as I stated before there is this sense of confusion, they too can engage in criminal behavior, but there is also the problem of their household becoming unsafe. If a mother depends on the husband or the other way around and they happen to be sent to jail a financial burden may fall on the other parent. Or let’s say that the child can no longer go to child care because the parent cannot afford it. The stress, frustration, and anger can be taken out on the child and they can become abused physically, emotionally and or mentally. There are many aspects to a child’s life that is affected. If we have many parents incarcerated, and as the NPR audio stated that there are, how can we claim that it is an individual problem when a child is being affected in so many ways? If an interactionist were to look at this situation they would most likely look at the statistical data of those incarcerated the most on the basis of race and analyze the many factors that can play in that parents life. They will analyze why they commit crime, and although society has labeled these people as “bad” with tags along their name such as felon, an interactionist would rebut it by claiming that they had to commit crime for A and B reasons. The example that I gave about a child viewing incarceration as a normal thing is also a viewpoint from the interactionist theory. This theory claims that norms, and values are carried throughout generations, therefore crime becomes a part of life. Going back to the views of society, an incarcerated parent is seen as person who does not care about their child, a poor individual in terms of personality and morals, and that they must be thrown in jail. An interactionist would say that media has placed these negative labels on them as a justification for the inequality that they face. If they are seen as bad and everyone is told that they deserve to be in jail, and no one examines why exactly he or she did this, then the dominant group (oppressor) can continue to oppress them.
Kelly A continued The main reason I chose this topic is because I can relate. My fiancé who is the father of my daughter is currently incarcerated. When he was first sentenced I did not think that my daughter would notice that he was gone, but because he took care of her during her first months she got used to the way he put her to sleep and fed her. Therefore when I and my grandmother had to do it we had to change her schedule and it was something new to her. Despite many people not agreeing with me taking her to see her father in jail, I do it because I do not want her to feel weird or awkward once he comes home. She may be small but the reality of it is that she is very smart and recognizes people. If she doesn’t recognize her father, I do not know what can happen to her psychologically. In order to avoid such a harsh situation I try to take her and show her pictures as much as I can. One solution that I can propose is that of assistance for individuals with a criminal background. This will help them not to resort to crime in order to receive money. There should also be programs for children to deal with these difficult situation. I understand that there are programs that an inmate can take in order to have contact visits with their child, but there should also be programs that allow a child to speak and open up about what he or she feels. This is important because the last thing we need is for many children to deal with psychological issues.
Luis S. One of the many negative outcomes that come as a result of incarceration is the effects it has on families and communities alike. An arrest could tear a family apart financially as well as contribute significantly to psychological issues that might come further down the line especially in children. In many poorer communities the father might be the main source of income and might not always provide for his family in ways that are legal. However when it comes to tending most providers would do anything to take care of their family by any means necessary. Stealing may be viewed as wrong to a lot of people but in a situation where stealing a loaf of bread would help feed your starving family a lot of people would take a different tone. Thanks to the so called ‘war on drugs’ many non-violent offenders who are by no means criminals have been incarcerated for selling drugs to make ends meet and providing for their families. This unfortunate situation has repercussions that directly affect the family. If a family of 4 loses its provider the mother might need to start working or even take a second job in order to provide for children. With a mother working all the time there starts to be a lack of supervision leaving the children looking for other sources of social validation to help with development and self-confidence. Many of these children grow up turning to the streets for a more secure feeling of family and provision. A teenage boy in a low income city with a father in prison and mother who is constantly working to put a roof over his head and cloths on his back might feel a sense of hopelessness in a public school and feel the need to drop out. A lot of times this leads to a situation where he begins selling drugs like his father did to help provide for himself so his mother won’t have to work as hard. A daughter might feel the comfort and security a male provides that she was missing from her father in the arms of a boyfriend. Thanks to a lack of supervision before you know it she is pregnant starting her own family and her boyfriend now has two new mouths to feed and take care of leaving him in a situation where he needs to find a new income. Malcolm X once famously said “When you live in a poor neighborhood, you are living in an area where you have poor schools. When you have poor schools, you have poor teachers. When you have poor teachers, you get a poor education. When you get a poor education, you can only work in a poor-paying job. And that poor-paying job enables you to live again in a poor neighborhood. So, it’s a very vicious cycle.” The cycle of poverty is not impossible to break out of however the odds of breaking out are like winning the lottery. When social conditions are examined it’s not hard to see why so many people are incarcerated every year in this country. Sticking people in prisons is only a temporary band aid to much a larger social issue that is often ignored in our country. In fact this temporary solution for criminal deviance only helps reinforce and continue the cycle of poverty that has broken up so many families and created even more criminals than ever before. The solution is not to keep sticking bodies in prisons but to change the system in which so many people live in. Why are there so many people in poverty? Why so many in jail? What can we do to change things in these communities to give these people a chance? The idea should not be to lock people away and throw away the key but to attack the problem from the root cause and heavily invest in research and solutions. We cannot keep sticking American citizens in prisons and penitentiaries while breaking up families and ruining the lives of millions forever. Something needs to change as soon as possible.
The story talks about a 22 year old whose father has been convicted for cocaine trafficking when she was 4. At first she did not know that her father was in prison, but after some time her mother tells her that her father is in prison, as a result she gets very confused and depressed due to her young age. She has not done anything wrong, but her fathers act has resulted this confusion and depression. Moreover, many other families and children are facing same problems as her. Studies show that, the increase in the rate of incarnation over the last 40 years have resulted to higher rates of homelessness, poor development, family instability, and racial disparities, so we can see that all of these social problems are related to the increase rate of incarnation. As we can see the problem leads to other problems and we cannot only blame the person, but also the system because if we have less incarcerated parents then the rates of homelessness would also fall. An interactionist look to this problem is children with incarcerated parents are labeled as bad because of the lack of parenting, referring to the NPR story for this example, when the reporter asks her did you tell any of your friends about this she says "Oh no (giggles)" if she was asked what her dad does most of the time she would lie, the reason that she lied is that in our society does not considered her normal, the labeling of "your father is a bad guy" shows us that an interactionist would consider this a social problem because having incarcerated parents is not normal. In my point of view, I see that the society is labeling too many things as bad, and that if we approach these problems as normal then more people would be comfortable to talk about it. These people need to be helped because they have not done anything wrong. A Solution to this problem can be that the government should provide more support programs to children with incarcerated parents because some children do not get support from the families or friends due to the fact that children with incarcerated parents are not considered normal, also if the government advertises these programs more people would consider it a social problem and slowly the society would consider these people normal and can start to help them. If we do not solve this problems more and more children with incarcerated parents would become depressed, confused, and eventually lose hope of life.
When a parent goes to prison, they leave a family behind. It doesn’t just affect the person going to jail it effects the family as a whole. Children have their own way of handling a situation; it all depends on how they see it. Not every child will take it the same. The main issue is that society believes that the child will also end up as the parent, in prison.
Interactionist would bring up the fact that everyone can choose his or her own fate. They can make their own decision. If the child’s parent is in prison they can choose to go down a different path.
I felt the need to comment on this specific topic because I can relate. My cousin’s boyfriend has been in jail for 6 years and she has raised their daughter by herself. She has been struggling for many years but through counseling she has gotten better.
One solution to this problem would be to have therapy sessions to help children who do have parents in this situation. It would help the child understand that he/she is not alone and that they other people can help them. Counseling would help children speak their mind and help them understand the situation better.
Parents going to prison is considered a social problem because it doesn't create individual consequences. It creates a domino effect of negative events that occur within the children and families' lives. It may lead to financial strain within the family because only one parent is providing for an entire family. It creates a psychological issue because the child will feel abandoned and/or ashamed of having a parent in prison; as Ifetayo Harvey stated in the article that she would make up stories about where her father was because she didn't want to be stigmatized. An interactionist would say that the child still has control over their own destiny. As proven by Ifetayo in the article, she states that she used her father being in prison as motivation to rise above and create a better life for herself. She chose to let her father's poor decisions influence her into going into a positive path. This topic was chosen because society doesn't always focus on the bigger picture of those being incarcerated. It also greatly affects those around them, especially their loved ones. A possible solution is that family members left behind must come together and try to stay on the right path. Always remaining positive and trying to improve life conditions such as getting an education and staying out of trouble will help children grow up to be role models to their own children, which will stop the cycle of incarcerated parents in their family.
Tony S. Responding to Amber G. I agree with you on on many levels. I agree that society often doesn't see the whole picture of when the parent gets incarcerated. You could cal the children in these circumstances the forgotten children. Their parents troubles and problems become their own troubles. I also agree that when one parent goes to jail or prison, all the responsibility is left to one parent. The responsibility including both financial and just raising the children. For these reasons I whole-heartedly agree with your argument. From a functionalist's perspective one might say that the parents going to jail is necessary. Which for most crimes I do believe that, parents or not, certain members of society are better being incarcerated. By them being in jail it is creating jobs for prison workers. It is potentially making the other parent take a low wage or extra job. Somebody has to do these jobs. It is unfortunate but work needs to be done. This could also make a potential teenage boy step up and take on more responsibility. However, most commonly, these young men go down the same path. Ultimately there is not just one solution. If I had to pick just one solution, it would be for these parents committing crimes, to stop. Think about the consequences of their actions and truly reflect on if it is worth losing their family. Children are smarter than we give them credit for. They know what's really going on behind closed doors. These parents need to look in themselves and make changes.
Karine A Responding to Amber G. I agree that people's choices in this life are connected to how they're going to affect other people and it is not only themselves that they are hurting. If a child is neglected or abandoned or is forced to live without any form of proper nurture from a responsible adult this will have a great impact on its psychological development, especially the early stages of its life where proper nurture is the most crucial.
However, some children might be better off without those parents because these parents can leave a negative influence through their criminal behavior. After all, every human is the architect of his/her own life and our destiny is shaped up by the choices we make. If an adult has the potential of engaging in criminal behavior then it is more likely for him/her to be a bad parent.
Cheyenne S. Responding to Luis S. I agree that having a parent incarcerated can provide long term problems for families and that this situation can contribute to people living in poverty. He made some great points that not only does it leave possible psychological issues with a child but it can lead them to the cycle of poverty and make maybe make the same choices as the parent. This is a problem because instead of preventing poverty and crime the system is helping the cycle along. The functionalist would normally view the continuous cycle of crime and poverty as a functional part of society. However, it is getting to the point that poverty is so widespread that some might think it is a dysfunction due to the drain in the economy. The economy is draining because people are constantly getting incarcerated. By changing the criminal justice system we might be able to prevent such an increase in poverty by keeping parents who don’t deserve to be in jail with their families helping stay out of poverty. Some sort of change is needed because what we have right now is not alleviating the problem that is on the rise.
Ofelya I. In response to Martin D., I agree that being a parent brings on many, many responsibilities and fit parents should understand the importance of the necessity of good parenting. Deviant behaviors always have consequences. Sociologists argue that deviant behavior is learned through others. Interactionists examine the process that defines certain individuals and acts as criminal. In most cases what children see in their families, is what will reflect on their lives.They will behave the same way as they have been taught. An Interactionist would say if one is planning to have a baby he or she must consider their ability of raising this child in the most perfect environment for their well being. Besides being able to provide basic necessities of food, clothing, and shelter, these children need families, relationships, security and most importantly, love. Love will pull through thick and thin. Tough times will be made easier with love and family support. Parents should make their children their priority and be able to effectively discipline them. The symbolic-interaction approach, with its micro-level focus on people's behavior in specific situations. People are the margins of life including not only racial minorities but also children. Socialization is a lifelong process. Children need to have a circle of trusted people to socialize with. To understand what family is, we need to learn its definition. Sometimes blood is not what makes a family. The family is a social institution found in all societies that unites people cooperative groups to care for one another including any children. If something damages within the institution it impacts everybody in it. Symbolic-interaction theory explains that the reality of family life is constructed by members in their interaction. Research shows that growing up in a one -parent family usually puts children at a disadventage. In this case this girl had to deal with a lot outside of home about her parent who made mistakes and was in prisoned for some long time. Some studies clime that because a father and a mother each make a distinctive contrubution to a child's social development, one parent has a hard time doing as good a job alone. Her mother alone had to take care of 7 children, which was obviously hard for her with a little or no help at all. But the most serious problem for one -parent families, especially if that parent is a woman, is poverty. On average, children growing up in a single-parent family start out poorer, get less schooling and end up with lower incomes as adults. Such children are also more likely to become single parents themselves. Kids nowadays learn what they see and experience and in the future live with the same principles as adults making similar mistakes as their parents. A solution for this case would be the interference of the social worker who will work cognitive behavior therapy method to help these kids with this kind of problems. Cognitive therapy has been demonstrated to be effective for the treatment of a variety of conditions, including mood, anxiety,personality, eating, substance abuse, tic, and psychotic disorders Other organizations will be willing to help with this situation. An Interactionist would say if one is planning to have a baby he or she must consider their ability of raising this child in the most perfect environment for their well being. Besides being able to provide basic necessities of food, clothing, and shelter, these children need families, relationships, security and most importantly, love. Love will pull through thick and thin. Tough times will be made easier with love and family support. Parents should make their children their priority and be able to effectively discipline them.
Celine A. Responding to Julie B. I completely agree with Julie that jail affects the whole family and not just the individual. There's more of a chance that a child will grow up and follow in their parents' footsteps. Also, parents going to jail can affect children directly because there is a possibility that the parent who is basically a single parent now can't afford a lot of things for the child. Instead of growing up in a normal environment the child is already growing up in a stressful environment.
A functionalist might say that the parent going to jail is a positive thing because it will help the child feel motivated to not follow in the same path. They will also point out that prisoners help the workers at the facility keep their job.
I commented on this topic because I believe that a child's childhood is the most important time in their life because people grow based off of events that happen to them. I agree with Julie that the child getting therapy can help them but I think another solution would be for the parents to get help and therapy. I believe that everyone can change and if a parent puts in the effort to become better for their child, that can show a lot to the child and give them hope.
In response to Ivonne F.. I agree with ivonne’s comment about the child being effected, when their parent goes to prison. I think its true that as human beings we are influenced by other peoples actions. Especially if it is our parents’ who are the people we look up to the most. I chose to comment on her entry because I can see that we have the same beliefs about this article, and I like how she used positivity to make the best out of any bad situation. A functionalist would look at this as a way of society to function, we have to have people in prison in order to create jobs for the police, and we need people who are effected so that social workers and foster homes have a job. I think that Ivonne’s solution is a really helpful one, another solution to this problem would be that maybe we can create a counseling session with the child and parent in jail so that they can both open up and let each other know how they feel instead of bottling it up, and there can be more articles in the newspaper about parents going to jail and effecting the children’s life's just so that other parents out there are informed and maybe it can prevent them from doing anything reckless.
I agree with this comment almost 100%. However, there is a large ethical dilemma that has been brought to light within this comment. I agree that there are many different ways to support your child without having to commit a crime, but take, for instance, the classic dilemma: "Do you steal a loaf of bread to feed your starving family?" Many would say yes to this question, and when you have nothing, most parents would do whatever it takes to provide for their children. When the crime goes beyond just providing for your family is when the issue gets out of hand. This comment caught my attention because of how short, sweet, and to the point it is. His thoughts are briefly stated, and his use of comparison/contrast intrigued me. I believe the arrest of parents overall is a bittersweet issue. The bitterness comes from losing a parent to the correctional system, its hard to imagine that'd be easy for anyone. The sweetness comes from the release of children fro parents who are ill-equipped to raise children properly. these kids can now be placed with new parental units and have a better chance for a better life. A functionalist would view the issue of parents of going to prison perhaps as a necessary consequence. For society to function, each member must play their role. Certain individuals are meant to leave their children and begin new lives among the inmates. the purpose could be to give those children new opportunities, or perhaps to be molded by this life catastrophe ad follow in their loved ones footsteps. A possible solution to this issue depends on the age of the children. Younger than five, the children have a right to stay with their parents. New programs and protocols could be enacted to make this possible, where the parents could still be institutionalized yet have custody of their children until they reach a certain age.
In response to Ivonne F., 1.) I would agree that the problem with a parent going to prison is the outcome affect it would have on the child. A lot of children, especially at a young age, look up to their parents as role models and once you take that away from them, the child can grow up in a society where he/she is confused because they didn't have the comfort of their parents guiding them. What stood out to me the most is that as human beings we are influenced by others actions. That being said, if a parent is taken away to prison from a child, the child will be growing up in a society and rebelling against it in a sense that maybe his/her parent didn't deserve to be punished. I chose to comment on this entry because I would agree with the statements that are made. I think this topic is controversial because on one side there are people who are getting incarcerated for harsh crimes (such as murder) they committed and you can't look at the person and say they have a child we can't put them in jail. On the other hand, prisons are getting filled with people committing minor crimes that don't really need to be there. This is a social problem because our system is locking people up one by one on crimes that are not a big issue and by doing so the government spends a lot of money in this and prisons get filled and once they get filled it becomes a chaos because now you have a problem with criminals getting tossed around in different prisons. 2.) Looking at this from a conflict theory, they would argue that not everyone can be equal and that the masses are not bound to society by their shared values, but by coercion at the hands of those in power. This theory holds that stratification is dysfunctional and harmful in society, with inequality perpetuated because it benefits the rich and powerful at the expense of the poor. So in order to have a society, crimes would need to be committed and once they're committed, a higher power would punish the person into locking him/her up and by doing this, it gives a balance of power. 3.) I agree with the proposed solution because it is on the person whether to look at the problem in a positive way or look at it negatively. It is possible to not have a heavy burden on yourself because you always have to look at the bright side of things and not let it get to you even though it hits you really hard. A solution I would come up with is to allow children whose parents are incarcerated to visit their parent twice a week just so they can have a positive energy that their parent is right by their side and that they don't feel abandoned that they don't get the opportunity to visit them. By doing this, institutions can be made where families can sign up and can get free bus rides to the prisons their loved ones are in just to visit them and feel their presence.
16 comments:
Ivonne F. The problem with parents going to prison is the outcome affect it has on the child, along with how the child deals with the situation. The child doesn't necessary pay any price for the parent's actions. As human beings we are influenced by others actions. Family plays a huge role on a child's future well being. The child has a mind of its own to have the ability of he or she will make of the situation. Whether the child wants to become the same kind of person or different. Knowing going to prison isn't what a person ever wants to encounter. What the person makes out of the situation is all up to them. No one can control ones mind and be told otherwise. The problem being that society believes that child will end up in prison as the parent.
-An interactionist would say only the child has the capacity to make its own decision. Unless, the child has committed the crime, it is not his or her fault. Only one self can choose what type of person they want to become. They're the own creator of their future.
-A solution of a parent going to jail is viewing the situation in a positive ways. As an individual, a person knows what right from wrong. If the child doesn't have a strong parent figure in his or her life, then its all up to one's self to become the person they desire to become, making their own decisions. Not being influenced by negative acts. No one can take charge of your life, but no ones self. Only ones fate is in their hands. I agree with an interactionist's perspective of being influenced by one another. We become the person we are because of our pas experiences and the environment surrounding us.
Martin D.
After a child has been brought up, it needs you. We are not sea turtles we don't give birth and let the babies figure life out. Being a parent brings on certain types of responsibilities. Kids need nourishment, they need to feel secure, they must have guidance to grow up normally. As sad as it is true, these are unfit parents who can not think very responsibly, there is not a single excuse to put a child's future in jeopardy by committing a crime. There are more ways then one to support your family, it does not have to be illegal.
Kelly A
When a parent is sentenced to prison or jail it not only puts a strain on their own life but also on that individual’s family, especially their children. Children who are accustomed to being with both parents and are suddenly stripped from one can cause confusion, depression and even anger. Children are innocent beings who are not capable of knowing the severity of being incarcerated, and for them their parents are “good” people. The fact that society has labeled their parents as “bad” can lead a child to ask why or how this could happen to a parent that they never see doing wrong. In our textbook we discuss the issue of an individual problem becoming a problem for society and even a problem for the nation. We can apply this idea to incarcerated parents. For example, a parent is incarcerated, a child then notices, he or she believes that “things happen” and eventually believe that crime, and jail are “normal”. Since we engage in normal behavior a child can then participate in such acts, and when they become incarcerated they consider it normal. There can also be this sense of justification from the child that the reason he or she commits crime and is in and out of jail is because they saw it throughout their childhood. This is where we see juvenile crime raise and becomes more than just an individualistic issue. To get a better understanding we must use our sociological imagination in order to see that children are the ones who deal with this time the hardest. The reason I say this is because, as I stated before there is this sense of confusion, they too can engage in criminal behavior, but there is also the problem of their household becoming unsafe. If a mother depends on the husband or the other way around and they happen to be sent to jail a financial burden may fall on the other parent. Or let’s say that the child can no longer go to child care because the parent cannot afford it. The stress, frustration, and anger can be taken out on the child and they can become abused physically, emotionally and or mentally. There are many aspects to a child’s life that is affected. If we have many parents incarcerated, and as the NPR audio stated that there are, how can we claim that it is an individual problem when a child is being affected in so many ways?
If an interactionist were to look at this situation they would most likely look at the statistical data of those incarcerated the most on the basis of race and analyze the many factors that can play in that parents life. They will analyze why they commit crime, and although society has labeled these people as “bad” with tags along their name such as felon, an interactionist would rebut it by claiming that they had to commit crime for A and B reasons. The example that I gave about a child viewing incarceration as a normal thing is also a viewpoint from the interactionist theory. This theory claims that norms, and values are carried throughout generations, therefore crime becomes a part of life. Going back to the views of society, an incarcerated parent is seen as person who does not care about their child, a poor individual in terms of personality and morals, and that they must be thrown in jail. An interactionist would say that media has placed these negative labels on them as a justification for the inequality that they face. If they are seen as bad and everyone is told that they deserve to be in jail, and no one examines why exactly he or she did this, then the dominant group (oppressor) can continue to oppress them.
Kelly A continued
The main reason I chose this topic is because I can relate. My fiancé who is the father of my daughter is currently incarcerated. When he was first sentenced I did not think that my daughter would notice that he was gone, but because he took care of her during her first months she got used to the way he put her to sleep and fed her. Therefore when I and my grandmother had to do it we had to change her schedule and it was something new to her. Despite many people not agreeing with me taking her to see her father in jail, I do it because I do not want her to feel weird or awkward once he comes home. She may be small but the reality of it is that she is very smart and recognizes people. If she doesn’t recognize her father, I do not know what can happen to her psychologically. In order to avoid such a harsh situation I try to take her and show her pictures as much as I can. One solution that I can propose is that of assistance for individuals with a criminal background. This will help them not to resort to crime in order to receive money. There should also be programs for children to deal with these difficult situation. I understand that there are programs that an inmate can take in order to have contact visits with their child, but there should also be programs that allow a child to speak and open up about what he or she feels. This is important because the last thing we need is for many children to deal with psychological issues.
Luis S. One of the many negative outcomes that come as a result of incarceration is the effects it has on families and communities alike. An arrest could tear a family apart financially as well as contribute significantly to psychological issues that might come further down the line especially in children. In many poorer communities the father might be the main source of income and might not always provide for his family in ways that are legal. However when it comes to tending most providers would do anything to take care of their family by any means necessary. Stealing may be viewed as wrong to a lot of people but in a situation where stealing a loaf of bread would help feed your starving family a lot of people would take a different tone. Thanks to the so called ‘war on drugs’ many non-violent offenders who are by no means criminals have been incarcerated for selling drugs to make ends meet and providing for their families. This unfortunate situation has repercussions that directly affect the family. If a family of 4 loses its provider the mother might need to start working or even take a second job in order to provide for children. With a mother working all the time there starts to be a lack of supervision leaving the children looking for other sources of social validation to help with development and self-confidence. Many of these children grow up turning to the streets for a more secure feeling of family and provision. A teenage boy in a low income city with a father in prison and mother who is constantly working to put a roof over his head and cloths on his back might feel a sense of hopelessness in a public school and feel the need to drop out. A lot of times this leads to a situation where he begins selling drugs like his father did to help provide for himself so his mother won’t have to work as hard. A daughter might feel the comfort and security a male provides that she was missing from her father in the arms of a boyfriend. Thanks to a lack of supervision before you know it she is pregnant starting her own family and her boyfriend now has two new mouths to feed and take care of leaving him in a situation where he needs to find a new income.
Malcolm X once famously said “When you live in a poor neighborhood, you are living in an area where you have poor schools. When you have poor schools, you have poor teachers. When you have poor teachers, you get a poor education. When you get a poor education, you can only work in a poor-paying job. And that poor-paying job enables you to live again in a poor neighborhood. So, it’s a very vicious cycle.” The cycle of poverty is not impossible to break out of however the odds of breaking out are like winning the lottery. When social conditions are examined it’s not hard to see why so many people are incarcerated every year in this country. Sticking people in prisons is only a temporary band aid to much a larger social issue that is often ignored in our country. In fact this temporary solution for criminal deviance only helps reinforce and continue the cycle of poverty that has broken up so many families and created even more criminals than ever before. The solution is not to keep sticking bodies in prisons but to change the system in which so many people live in. Why are there so many people in poverty? Why so many in jail? What can we do to change things in these communities to give these people a chance? The idea should not be to lock people away and throw away the key but to attack the problem from the root cause and heavily invest in research and solutions. We cannot keep sticking American citizens in prisons and penitentiaries while breaking up families and ruining the lives of millions forever. Something needs to change as soon as possible.
Arbi N.
The story talks about a 22 year old whose father has been convicted for cocaine trafficking when she was 4. At first she did not know that her father was in prison, but after some time her mother tells her that her father is in prison, as a result she gets very confused and depressed due to her young age. She has not done anything wrong, but her fathers act has resulted this confusion and depression. Moreover, many other families and children are facing same problems as her. Studies show that, the increase in the rate of incarnation over the last 40 years have resulted to higher rates of homelessness, poor development, family instability, and racial disparities, so we can see that all of these social problems are related to the increase rate of incarnation. As we can see the problem leads to other problems and we cannot only blame the person, but also the system because if we have less incarcerated parents then the rates of homelessness would also fall.
An interactionist look to this problem is children with incarcerated parents are labeled as bad because of the lack of parenting, referring to the NPR story for this example, when the reporter asks her did you tell any of your friends about this she says "Oh no (giggles)" if she was asked what her dad does most of the time she would lie, the reason that she lied is that in our society does not considered her normal, the labeling of "your father is a bad guy" shows us that an interactionist would consider this a social problem because having incarcerated parents is not normal.
In my point of view, I see that the society is labeling too many things as bad, and that if we approach these problems as normal then more people would be comfortable to talk about it. These people need to be helped because they have not done anything wrong. A Solution to this problem can be that the government should provide more support programs to children with incarcerated parents because some children do not get support from the families or friends due to the fact that children with incarcerated parents are not considered normal, also if the government advertises these programs more people would consider it a social problem and slowly the society would consider these people normal and can start to help them. If we do not solve this problems more and more children with incarcerated parents would become depressed, confused, and eventually lose hope of life.
Julie B.
When a parent goes to prison, they leave a family behind. It doesn’t just affect the person going to jail it effects the family as a whole. Children have their own way of handling a situation; it all depends on how they see it. Not every child will take it the same. The main issue is that society believes that the child will also end up as the parent, in prison.
Interactionist would bring up the fact that everyone can choose his or her own fate. They can make their own decision. If the child’s parent is in prison they can choose to go down a different path.
I felt the need to comment on this specific topic because I can relate. My cousin’s boyfriend has been in jail for 6 years and she has raised their daughter by herself. She has been struggling for many years but through counseling she has gotten better.
One solution to this problem would be to have therapy sessions to help children who do have parents in this situation. It would help the child understand that he/she is not alone and that they other people can help them. Counseling would help children speak their mind and help them understand the situation better.
Amber G.
Parents going to prison is considered a social problem because it doesn't create individual consequences. It creates a domino effect of negative events that occur within the children and families' lives. It may lead to financial strain within the family because only one parent is providing for an entire family. It creates a psychological issue because the child will feel abandoned and/or ashamed of having a parent in prison; as Ifetayo Harvey stated in the article that she would make up stories about where her father was because she didn't want to be stigmatized.
An interactionist would say that the child still has control over their own destiny. As proven by Ifetayo in the article, she states that she used her father being in prison as motivation to rise above and create a better life for herself. She chose to let her father's poor decisions influence her into going into a positive path.
This topic was chosen because society doesn't always focus on the bigger picture of those being incarcerated. It also greatly affects those around them, especially their loved ones. A possible solution is that family members left behind must come together and try to stay on the right path. Always remaining positive and trying to improve life conditions such as getting an education and staying out of trouble will help children grow up to be role models to their own children, which will stop the cycle of incarcerated parents in their family.
Tony S.
Responding to Amber G.
I agree with you on on many levels. I agree that society often doesn't see the whole picture of when the parent gets incarcerated. You could cal the children in these circumstances the forgotten children. Their parents troubles and problems become their own troubles. I also agree that when one parent goes to jail or prison, all the responsibility is left to one parent. The responsibility including both financial and just raising the children. For these reasons I whole-heartedly agree with your argument.
From a functionalist's perspective one might say that the parents going to jail is necessary. Which for most crimes I do believe that, parents or not, certain members of society are better being incarcerated. By them being in jail it is creating jobs for prison workers. It is potentially making the other parent take a low wage or extra job. Somebody has to do these jobs. It is unfortunate but work needs to be done. This could also make a potential teenage boy step up and take on more responsibility. However, most commonly, these young men go down the same path.
Ultimately there is not just one solution. If I had to pick just one solution, it would be for these parents committing crimes, to stop. Think about the consequences of their actions and truly reflect on if it is worth losing their family. Children are smarter than we give them credit for. They know what's really going on behind closed doors. These parents need to look in themselves and make changes.
Karine A
Responding to Amber G.
I agree that people's choices in this life are connected to how they're going to affect other people and it is not only themselves that they are hurting. If a child is neglected or abandoned or is forced to live without any form of proper nurture from a responsible adult this will have a great impact on its psychological development, especially the early stages of its life where proper nurture is the most crucial.
However, some children might be better off without those parents because these parents can leave a negative influence through their criminal behavior. After all, every human is the architect of his/her own life and our destiny is shaped up by the choices we make. If an adult has the potential of engaging in criminal behavior then it is more likely for him/her to be a bad parent.
Cheyenne S.
Responding to Luis S.
I agree that having a parent incarcerated can provide long term problems for families and that this situation can contribute to people living in poverty. He made some great points that not only does it leave possible psychological issues with a child but it can lead them to the cycle of poverty and make maybe make the same choices as the parent. This is a problem because instead of preventing poverty and crime the system is helping the cycle along. The functionalist would normally view the continuous cycle of crime and poverty as a functional part of society. However, it is getting to the point that poverty is so widespread that some might think it is a dysfunction due to the drain in the economy. The economy is draining because people are constantly getting incarcerated. By changing the criminal justice system we might be able to prevent such an increase in poverty by keeping parents who don’t deserve to be in jail with their families helping stay out of poverty. Some sort of change is needed because what we have right now is not alleviating the problem that is on the rise.
Ofelya I.
In response to Martin D., I agree that being a parent brings on many, many responsibilities and fit parents should understand the importance of the necessity of good parenting. Deviant behaviors always have consequences. Sociologists argue that deviant behavior is learned through others. Interactionists examine the process that defines certain individuals and acts as criminal. In most cases what children see in their families, is what will reflect on their lives.They will behave the same way as they have been taught. An Interactionist would say if one is planning to have a baby he or she must consider their ability of raising this child in the most perfect environment for their well being. Besides being able to provide basic necessities of food, clothing, and shelter, these children need families, relationships, security and most importantly, love. Love will pull through thick and thin. Tough times will be made easier with love and family support. Parents should make their children their priority and be able to effectively discipline them.
The symbolic-interaction approach, with its micro-level focus on people's behavior in specific situations. People are the margins of life including not only racial minorities but also children. Socialization is a lifelong process. Children need to have a circle of trusted people to socialize with. To understand what family is, we need to learn its definition. Sometimes blood is not what makes a family. The family is a social institution found in all societies that unites people cooperative groups to care for one another including any children. If something damages within the institution it impacts everybody in it. Symbolic-interaction theory explains that the reality of family life is constructed by members in their interaction. Research shows that growing up in a one -parent family usually puts children at a disadventage. In this case this girl had to deal with a lot outside of home about her parent who made mistakes and was in prisoned for some long time. Some studies clime that because a father and a mother each make a distinctive contrubution to a child's social development, one parent has a hard time doing as good a job alone. Her mother alone had to take care of 7 children, which was obviously hard for her with a little or no help at all. But the most serious problem for one -parent families, especially if that parent is a woman, is poverty. On average, children growing up in a single-parent family start out poorer, get less schooling and end up with lower incomes as adults. Such children are also more likely to become single parents themselves. Kids nowadays learn what they see and experience and in the future live with the same principles as adults making similar mistakes as their parents. A solution for this case would be the interference of the social worker who will work cognitive behavior therapy method to help these kids with this kind of problems. Cognitive therapy has been demonstrated to be effective for the treatment of a variety of conditions, including mood, anxiety,personality, eating, substance abuse, tic, and psychotic disorders Other organizations will be willing to help with this situation. An Interactionist would say if one is planning to have a baby he or she must consider their ability of raising this child in the most perfect environment for their well being. Besides being able to provide basic necessities of food, clothing, and shelter, these children need families, relationships, security and most importantly, love. Love will pull through thick and thin. Tough times will be made easier with love and family support. Parents should make their children their priority and be able to effectively discipline them.
Celine A.
Responding to Julie B.
I completely agree with Julie that jail affects the whole family and not just the individual. There's more of a chance that a child will grow up and follow in their parents' footsteps. Also, parents going to jail can affect children directly because there is a possibility that the parent who is basically a single parent now can't afford a lot of things for the child. Instead of growing up in a normal environment the child is already growing up in a stressful environment.
A functionalist might say that the parent going to jail is a positive thing because it will help the child feel motivated to not follow in the same path. They will also point out that prisoners help the workers at the facility keep their job.
I commented on this topic because I believe that a child's childhood is the most important time in their life because people grow based off of events that happen to them. I agree with Julie that the child getting therapy can help them but I think another solution would be for the parents to get help and therapy. I believe that everyone can change and if a parent puts in the effort to become better for their child, that can show a lot to the child and give them hope.
Sarina V
In response to Ivonne F..
I agree with ivonne’s comment about the child being effected, when their parent goes to prison. I think its true that as human beings we are influenced by other peoples actions. Especially if it is our parents’ who are the people we look up to the most. I chose to comment on her entry because I can see that we have the same beliefs about this article, and I like how she used positivity to make the best out of any bad situation. A functionalist would look at this as a way of society to function, we have to have people in prison in order to create jobs for the police, and we need people who are effected so that social workers and foster homes have a job. I think that Ivonne’s solution is a really helpful one, another solution to this problem would be that maybe we can create a counseling session with the child and parent in jail so that they can both open up and let each other know how they feel instead of bottling it up, and there can be more articles in the newspaper about parents going to jail and effecting the children’s life's just so that other parents out there are informed and maybe it can prevent them from doing anything reckless.
Tristen Cortes
In response to Martin D.
I agree with this comment almost 100%. However, there is a large ethical dilemma that has been brought to light within this comment. I agree that there are many different ways to support your child without having to commit a crime, but take, for instance, the classic dilemma: "Do you steal a loaf of bread to feed your starving family?" Many would say yes to this question, and when you have nothing, most parents would do whatever it takes to provide for their children. When the crime goes beyond just providing for your family is when the issue gets out of hand.
This comment caught my attention because of how short, sweet, and to the point it is. His thoughts are briefly stated, and his use of comparison/contrast intrigued me. I believe the arrest of parents overall is a bittersweet issue. The bitterness comes from losing a parent to the correctional system, its hard to imagine that'd be easy for anyone. The sweetness comes from the release of children fro parents who are ill-equipped to raise children properly. these kids can now be placed with new parental units and have a better chance for a better life.
A functionalist would view the issue of parents of going to prison perhaps as a necessary consequence. For society to function, each member must play their role. Certain individuals are meant to leave their children and begin new lives among the inmates. the purpose could be to give those children new opportunities, or perhaps to be molded by this life catastrophe ad follow in their loved ones footsteps.
A possible solution to this issue depends on the age of the children. Younger than five, the children have a right to stay with their parents. New programs and protocols could be enacted to make this possible, where the parents could still be institutionalized yet have custody of their children until they reach a certain age.
Anahit G.
In response to Ivonne F.,
1.) I would agree that the problem with a parent going to prison is the outcome affect it would have on the child. A lot of children, especially at a young age, look up to their parents as role models and once you take that away from them, the child can grow up in a society where he/she is confused because they didn't have the comfort of their parents guiding them. What stood out to me the most is that as human beings we are influenced by others actions. That being said, if a parent is taken away to prison from a child, the child will be growing up in a society and rebelling against it in a sense that maybe his/her parent didn't deserve to be punished. I chose to comment on this entry because I would agree with the statements that are made. I think this topic is controversial because on one side there are people who are getting incarcerated for harsh crimes (such as murder) they committed and you can't look at the person and say they have a child we can't put them in jail. On the other hand, prisons are getting filled with people committing minor crimes that don't really need to be there. This is a social problem because our system is locking people up one by one on crimes that are not a big issue and by doing so the government spends a lot of money in this and prisons get filled and once they get filled it becomes a chaos because now you have a problem with criminals getting tossed around in different prisons.
2.) Looking at this from a conflict theory, they would argue that not everyone can be equal and that the masses are not bound to society by their shared values, but by coercion at the hands of those in power. This theory holds that stratification is dysfunctional and harmful in society, with inequality perpetuated because it benefits the rich and powerful at the expense of the poor. So in order to have a society, crimes would need to be committed and once they're committed, a higher power would punish the person into locking him/her up and by doing this, it gives a balance of power.
3.) I agree with the proposed solution because it is on the person whether to look at the problem in a positive way or look at it negatively. It is possible to not have a heavy burden on yourself because you always have to look at the bright side of things and not let it get to you even though it hits you really hard. A solution I would come up with is to allow children whose parents are incarcerated to visit their parent twice a week just so they can have a positive energy that their parent is right by their side and that they don't feel abandoned that they don't get the opportunity to visit them. By doing this, institutions can be made where families can sign up and can get free bus rides to the prisons their loved ones are in just to visit them and feel their presence.
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