An Overview of Parental Incarceration in African American Students: The Effects on Socioeconomics, Educational Outcomes, School Exclusion, and Juvenile Justice Involvement

Abstract

Purpose

Parental incarceration is a traumatic experience that affects both the parent and their family. It is also a traumatic childhood and adolescent event that plagues students who may already be vulnerable and oppressed. The current study examines parental incarceration and associated factors.

Methods

African American students (N = 139) from a Texas Independent School District were assessed to determine associations between parental incarceration and socioeconomic status (free/reduced lunch), educational outcomes (being retained in a grade and/or special education placement) school exclusion (suspension and/or expulsion), and juvenile justice involvement (receipt of a criminal ticket in school, ticket in the community, and/or student arrest, and possible interactional effects. Chi-square and binomial logistic regression were used to examine these associations and the likelihood of experiencing these effects from parental incarceration.

Results and Conclusion

Findings revealed that parental incarceration was associated with low socioeconomics, being retained, school exclusion, and juvenile justice involvement in this population. Implications for continued research and practice are discussed.

Parenting interactions and early family experiences are important in the formation of emotional and social behaviors in students, and provide pathways that form childhood experiences, some of which are unfavorable; one of these experiences is parental incarceration. Children and adolescents who experience parental incarceration face a host of challenges and difficulties which can categorize them as secondary or hidden victims of their parents’ crime(s) (Martin, 2017). Parental incarceration is a broad issue with multi-faceted problematic effects. In the United States, the world’s leader in incarceration, there are approximately 2.2 million people in prisons or jails (The Sentencing Project, n.d., para. 1). Parental incarceration is associated with socioeconomic and family/kinship harm. Research indicates that more than 2.7 million children in the U.S. have an incarcerated parent; more specifically, 1 in 9 African Americans, 1 in 28 Latin Americans, and 1 in 57 European Americans have an incarcerated parent (The PEW Charitable, 2010).

Research has found that the incarceration of a parent or other household member is associated with adverse outcomes for child well-being and categorized as an adverse childhood experience (ACE) (Arditti & Savla, 2015; Gjelsvik et al., 2014). An ACE such as parental incarceration is a traumatic event that occurs during childhood and can have significant impact on a child’s physical, emotional, and financial well-being (Martin, 2017; Murray et al., 2012). All ACEs are not equal in their contribution to commonly assessed outcomes as certain ACEs significantly increase the overall risk for child impairment (Briggs et al., 2021; Putnam et al., 2020); sexual abuse was found to co-occur with other ACEs and contribute significantly (more than certain other ACEs) to child impairments (Haskins & Turney, 2018; Turney, 2014). ACEs such as parental incarceration can cause stress, uncertainty, and forced family separation, and the parent–child separation that occurs as a result of parental incarceration can lead to isolation, stigma, and economic hardship (Arditti & Salva, 2015). Children of incarcerated parents are more likely to drop out of school, be diagnosed with learning disabilities (including ADHD), misbehave in school, and suffer from depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder (Morsy & Rothstein, 2016). Additionally, ACEs such as parental incarceration can place children at a higher risk for experiencing additional ACEs as compared to children who do not experience parental incarceration (Briggs et al., 2021; Turney, 2014, 2019).

The co-occurrence of ACEs (i.e., parental incarceration) and its effects on child impairment has been well-researched, yet relatively little research investigates the association between parental incarceration and child impairment for African American students. Research that examines African American students’ experiences with parental incarceration is important due to the discriminatory overrepresentation of African American parents and the association with their children’s lowered educational performance (Morsy & Rothstein, 2016). This overrepresentation is problematic and increases exposure to risk factors that are associated with parental incarceration. These risk factors have emotional, behavioral, and academic consequences that often lead to low achievement in adulthood (in economics, health, and job placement) (Bradshaw et al., 2020; Gjelsvik et al., 2014).

Parental Incarceration and Childhood Risk Factors

Internalizing and Externalizing Behaviors

Parental incarceration is associated with certain internalizing and externalizing behaviors in children that have been shown to cause impairment in several areas of a child's life. Internalizing behaviors are processes/practices within the self, while externalizing behaviors are actions in the external world. Internalizing behaviors may include embarrassment, withdrawn behaviors, psychosomaticizing, emotional ambivalence, or other childhood trauma symptoms associated with the parent–child relationship and parental incarceration (i.e., limited phone and/or face-to-face interactions, or no interactions at all, which can contribute to a lack of understanding) (Aaron & Dallaire, 2010; Arditti & Savla, 2015; Dallaire et al., 2010; Martin, 2017; Turney, 2019). Some common post-traumatic reactions to parental incarceration may be re-experiencing, purposeful avoidance, dissociation (emotional shock), hyperarousal, and anxiety (Arditti & Savla, 2015). Additionally, prior research found that a childhood history of parental incarceration and juvenile justice involvement was associated with depression and anxiety in early adulthood, and these mental health conditions were more prominent in youth of color (Heard-Garris et al., 2019).

Externalizing behaviors may include overall poor academic performance, truancy and/or drop-out, suspension/expulsion, defiance and other conduct problems, and bullying/aggression (Haskins & Turney, 2018; Horton, 2020; Kjellstrand et al., 2019; Klomek et al., 2013; Tackett et al., 2013). Murray et al. (2012) conducted a meta-analysis examining parental incarceration and its effect on educational performance, drug use, and anti-social behavior. The findings highlighted the increased risk for future criminal behavior among children who experience parental incarceration. Elevated levels of internalizing and externalizing behaviors are also correlated with posttraumatic stress experienced as a result of parental incarceration (Bocknek et al., 2009). These internalizing and externalizing behavioral experiences can affect a student’s access to the school curriculum, placing them at a higher risk for negative educational outcomes such as grade retention (repeating a grade/failing a grade). Hinojosa et al. (2019) found that specific ACES such as parental incarceration, neighborhood violence, witnessing domestic violence, and economic hardship are related to higher rates of grade retention.

Socioeconomic Status (SES) and Familial Impact

Parental incarceration can introduce new economic challenges. Research has found that over two-thirds of those incarcerated are there for non-violent crimes (i.e., property theft and drug use), which are crimes associated with poverty (Glaze & Maruschack, 2008, 2010). Poverty can impact choices that lead to parental incarceration, and after incarceration, parents can face continued consequences. During incarceration, a parent will likely accrue debt, which they will struggle to pay off after they are released, as a history of incarceration makes it difficult to obtain employment. An additional economic barrier that effects parent–child relationships is maintaining contact while incarcerated; contact with a minor child can be cost prohibitive due to excessive fees for telephone calls or the cost for travel to visit the prison as the facility’s location may be substantially far from their homes (Arditti & Savla, 2015; Glaze & Maruschak, 2008; Kjellstrand & Eddy, 2011; Kjellstrand et al., 2019; The Pew Charitable, 2010; Turney, 2019). Furthermore, financial strains, food insecurity and material hardship due to parental incarceration impacts caretaker responsibility, as the other parent is now the sole caretaker of the child.

The Bureau of Justice Statistics reported that most parents incarcerated in state prisons had children who were in the care of the other parent (approximately 84%), and mothers typically become the primary caretaker if the father is incarcerated (Glaze & Maruschack, 2008, 2010; Miller & Barnes, 2015). Children with incarcerated parents were also in the care of grandparents, relatives, or in a foster home, agency, or institution (Glaze & Maruschack, 2008, 2010). Parental incarceration can alter familial relationship dynamics, and the degree to which they change may depend on the gender of the parent incarcerated. Mothers’ incarceration commonly causes the child to live with extended family or sometimes be placed in the foster care system (Anaraki & Boostani, 2014; Dworsky et al., 2020). Additionally, some children with incarcerated parents move in with grandparents or other family members, who refuse to report their living situation to authorities because of the risk of the children being removed from their care by the child protection agency. These family members may be reluctant to seek support from social service agencies for fear of losing the child to the child welfare system, thus pushing the family unit further into poverty. Still further, these living situations can limit equal access to the academic curriculum, as children may experience transient living situations coupled with non-routine school changes.

Educational Outcomes and Juvenile Justice Involvement

Additionally, parental incarceration may cause feelings of abandonment and distrust in children, which may be viewed as a disregard for classroom instruction and school rules. The stigma of parental incarceration can create isolation and shame in students, and this can shape teachers’ expectations of behavioral problems and can impact children’s’ educational opportunities and outcomes (Wildeman et al., 2017). The stigma is even more prominent for African American students. Research has found that unconscious beliefs or stereotypes about African American girls being angry, aggressive, and hyper-sexualized and African American boys being criminals can lead to the setting of lower academic expectations by teachers, (Onyeka-Crawford et al., 2017; Riddle & Sinclair, 2019). This stigma and discriminatory process has also placed African Americans at an unfair disadvantage to experience involvement in the justice system. Research has found that an African American child is six times as likely as a European American child to have or have had an incarcerated parent (Morsy & Rothstein, 2016). The number of children experiencing parental incarceration is unparalleled, and recognizing the possible effects is of great importance.

The Current Study

There is a probable association between childhood history of parental incarceration and juvenile justice involvement, delinquent behavior, and family conflict (Aaron & Dallaire, 2010; Dannerback, 2005; Kjellstrand & Eddy, 2011; Morsy & Rothstein, 2016). Prior literature addresses the possible factors associated with parental incarceration (i.e., SES, school exclusion, and juvenile justice involvement). These factors are prominent in African American children due to the overwhelming disproportionality of African American adults in the US prison system. This study will add to the literature by examining a population of African American students to determine if any associations exist between parental incarceration experiences and certain outcomes that can affect equal access to the school curriculum.

This study will add to the literature by examining associations that exist between parental incarceration in African American students and the following variables: socioeconomic status (free/reduced lunch), educational outcomes (being retained/failing a grade and/or special education placement) school exclusion (suspension and/or expulsion), and juvenile justice criminal charge (receipt of a criminal ticket in school, community, and/or student arrest). It is hypothesized that the variables will be significantly associated with parental incarceration in the study population. Assessing African American students’ school and community experiences and their connections across different systems (within multiple contexts) is significant when understanding the effects of parental incarceration These findings could lead to more rigorous research on African American students experiencing this trauma.

Methods

Participants

Data were gathered from ethnically and economically diverse African American high school students. Institutional Review Board approval was granted for this research with adolescents. The study participants were recruited via announcements in their health classes at four high schools in the independent school district: the ninth-grade center, the collegiate high school, the high school, and the discipline alternative school. Of the 400 students recruited for the study, parental consent was received for 139 African American participants (60 males and 79 females) who ranged in age from 14–18 (M = 15, SD =  + -1.33). The independent school district (ISD) that these schools are a part of is 70% African American and 3% European American (“US News Education”, n.d.), while the town is 54% African American and 33% European American (World Population Review, 2022).

Measure, Analysis, and Procedure

The current study used data from a demographic survey to examine student identifiers (i.e., age, grade, disciplinary history, etc.), juvenile record (i.e., receipt of a criminal ticket for fighting in school; receipt of a criminal ticket for robbery and assault in the community) family structure, socioeconomic status, and parental aggression, arrest, and incarceration history. To identify socioeconomic status (SES), students who received free or reduced lunch were classified as low SES; of which 60% met this criterion. Demographic information was reported in a yes/no and fill in the blank format. Some survey items were questions that asked the following: “Are you in special education? Have you ever failed a grade? Has your parent ever been incarcerated? Have you ever been arrested?”. The variables measured by this survey were free/reduced lunch, grade retention and special education enrollment; suspension and/or expulsion; ticket in school (receiving a criminal violation for illegal activity on school campus), ticket in the community (receiving a criminal violation for illegal activity in the community), and/or student arrest. The average student completed the survey in approximately 20 min. Chi-square tests of independence were conducted to examine the associations between parental incarceration and the research variables (see Table I). Additionally, binomial logistic regression was used to predict parental incarceration based on the above listed variables. These statistical techniques were used to determine if there was a prominent need for continued research on parental incarceration experiences in an African American student population.

Table I.

Chi-Square Results

n = 139	Parental Incarceration
	Yes	No	$X^2$		Effect Size
SES	83	56	$X^2$(1, n = 139) = 5.99, p < .01		.21, p < .01
Retained	28	111	$X^2$(1, n = 139) = 6.43, p < .01		.22, p < .01
SPED	12	127	$X^2$(1, n = 139) = 1.36, p > .05		.09, p > .05
Suspension	86	53	$X^2$(1, n = 139) = 6.46, p < .01		.22, p < .01
Expulsion	52	86	$X^2$(1, n = 139) = 7.12, p < .01		.23, p < .01
Ticket in School	40	99	$X^2$(1, n = 139) = 6.50, p < .01		.22, p. < .01
Ticket in Community	21	118	$X^2$(1, n = 139) = 5.12, p < .01		.19, p < .05
Student Arrested	27	112	$X^2$(1, n = 139) = 7.31, p < .01		.23, p < .01

Results

The self-reported data gathered from students revealed existing associations between parental incarceration experiences and at-risk outcomes in SES, education, school exclusion, and juvenile justice involvement were examined in the study population of African American students. Initial results of this study revealed that parental incarceration is a prominent issue that students experience with 27% of participants experiencing parental incarceration.

SES, Educational Outcomes, and School Exclusion

The variables were analyzed using chi-square tests of independence. A chi-square test was performed to examine the relation between SES and parental incarceration. The relationship between these variables was significant, $X^2$(1, n = 139) = 5.99, p < 0.01, as hypothesized. Additional results indicate that parental incarceration experiences were somewhat associated with the educational outcome construct for students. Chi-square test results revealed that students who experienced parental incarceration were more likely to be retained (failing or repeating a grade) [$X^2$(1, n = 139) = 6.43, p < 0.01]. However, it was hypothesized that the proportion of students who reported experiencing parental incarceration would differ by special education placement [$X^2$(1, n = 139) = 1.36, p > 0.05], but there was no significant relationship. There was a significant relationship between school exclusion and parental incarceration in the study participants. Chi-square tests showed there was a significant relationship between being suspended and parental incarceration experiences [$X^2$(1, n = 139) = 6.46, p < 0.01] and/or being expelled and parental incarceration experiences [$X^2$(1, n = 139) = 7.12, p < 0.01].

Juvenile Justice Involvement

The construct, juvenile justice involvement, was found to be significantly associated with parental incarceration experiences. The variables that are included in this construct are receiving a criminal ticket in school, receiving a criminal ticket in the community, and being arrested. Chi-square test results revealed parental incarceration experiences were significantly associated with all these variables: ticket at school [$X^2$(1, n = 139) = 6.50, p < 0.01]; ticket in community [$X^2$(1, n = 139) = 5.12, p < 0.01]; student arrested [$X^2$(1, n = 139) = 7.31, p < 0.01]. These findings indicate that students who experience parental incarceration are more likely to experience receiving a ticket in the school or community, as well as being arrested.

Binary logistic regression was used to analyze the relationship between SES, educational outcomes, school exclusion, and juvenile justice involvement and the probability they experienced parental incarceration (based on the above variables tested in the Chi-square statistic). Of the variables examined in the binary logistic regression, only two were found to be significant predictors. It was found that, holding other predictor variables constant, the odds of experiencing parental incarceration increased by 2.720% (95% CI [0.973, 7.606]); p < 0.05. Hence, participants that failed a grade were approximately three times more likely to have experienced parental incarceration than participants that did not fail a grade. Additionally, holding all other predictor variables constant, the odds of experiencing parental incarceration increased by 2.950% (95% CI [1.166, 7.465]; p < 0.02. This means that participants that received free/reduced lunch (an indicator of low SES) were approximately three times more likely to have experienced parental incarceration than a participant that did not receive free/reduced lunch.

Discussion

The purpose of this study was to examine the associations and the probability of experiencing parental incarceration based on SES, educational outcomes, school exclusion, and juvenile justice involvement. The variables examined were free/reduced lunch (SES), being retained/failing a grade and/or special education placement (educational outcomes), suspension and/or expulsion (school exclusion), and receipt of a criminal ticket in school, community, and/or student arrest (juvenile justice involvement).

This study adds to the literature in two ways: First, previous research acknowledges that African Americans are overrepresented in the criminal justice system (Morsy & Rothstein, 2016; The PEW Charitable, 2010) and recognize that African American children that experience parental incarceration also experience child impairments at a higher rate than their counterparts that do not experience parental incarceration (Klomet et al., 2013; Onyeka-Crawford et al., 2017; Riddle & Sinclair, 2019). This study provides a model that describes the data well (with a significant goodness-of-fit on the Omnibus test), showing that parental incarceration is related to some study variables in this African American sample. Second, this research examines SES, educational outcomes, school exclusion, and juvenile justice involvement and it is related to parental incarceration. This research will lead to more a rigorous examination of associations and possible influences of parental incarceration. This research is consistent with prior research (Wakefield & Wilderman, 2018) that documents the associations between parental incarceration and specific types of child impairments such as low SES, school exclusion, and educational attainment in a sample of children with differing ethnic identification. Hence, these findings, taken with the statistic that African Americans are 9 times more likely to be incarcerated, indicates that research in this area is important due to the overrepresentation of African Americans in the criminal justice system.

Socioeconomic Status and Familial Impact

The study results indicate that receipt of free/reduced lunch, which may indicate low SES, was significantly associated with parental incarceration; students that received free/reduced lunch were three times more likely to have experienced parental incarceration than students that did not received free/reduced lunch. Parental incarceration can have direct and indirect financial consequences for vulnerable families such as missing income of the incarcerated parent, costs for visits to the prison, and collect phone calls from the incarcerated parent. Research continues to reveal how students may require equitable responses to more effectively meet the economic needs caused by parental incarceration (i.e., free/reduced lunch, waivers for ACT/SAT, waivers for lab fees, etc.) (Blitz et al., 2016). Family systems that experience parental incarceration deal with some form of financial stress related to the removal of a “bread-winner” from the family. These financial stressors include lack of affordable housing, guardianship changes, and inability to maintain contact with the incarcerated parent (Turney, 2019). These SES and familial stressors are associated with juvenile justice involvement, which has been found to lead to lowered and negative adulthood outcomes in education and job attainment (Bradshaw et al., 2020; Gjelsvik et al., 2014).

Educational Outcomes and School Exclusion

There is a wide array of findings with a continuum of positive to negative outcomes for experiences of parental incarceration in African American students. The results of this study indicate that being retained (failing a grade) was significantly associated with parental incarceration, but receipt of special education services was not. Moreover, a student that failed a grade was three times more likely to have experienced parental incarceration than students that did not fail a grade. These findings suggest that African American students who experience parental incarceration may have academic difficulties that lead to school failure and grade retention, and research has found that these experiences are often associated with school dropout and excessive school disciplinary action (Klomek et al., 2013; Onyeka-Crawford et al., 2017). Additionally, the impact of parental incarceration may have long-term effects on educational underachievement (Miller & Barnes, 2015). Haskins and Jacobsen (2017) found that parental incarceration was associated with lower school involvement and system avoidance for custodial parents, indicating that interacting with school officials that might ask the whereabouts of an incarcerated parent could be an anxiety-provoking interaction and avoidance of the school system could be a defense mechanism they use to deal with the stigma.

Students with lower school involvement experience school exclusion, which consists of suspensions and/or expulsions for school disciplinary infractions. The current study results indicate that there is a significant relationship between students who experienced parental incarceration and students who experienced suspension and/or expulsion from school. Moreover, school “push-out”, the exclusion from participation in school, is experienced at a higher rate for African Americans. Riddle and Sinclair (2019) found that in US schools African Americans were subject to disciplinary action at higher rates than their European American counterparts are for the same offense. Moreover, school exclusion (which is extremely high in low-income students and students of color) is a prime contributor to the school-to-prison-pipeline (Rodriguez-Ruiz, 2017).

Juvenile Justice Involvement

Findings from this study indicate that parental incarceration was significantly associated with receiving a criminal ticket in school, a criminal ticket in the community, and the student being arrested. Students may receive a criminal ticket on school premises for fighting in school, cursing in school (usually at a teacher or another adult), or stealing while on school property; a student may receive a ticket in the community for fighting, stealing, violation of curfew, or purchasing products underage (i.e., tobacco and alcohol). Of the total study population, 29% had received a ticket on the school premises and 15% received a ticket in the community. The findings support academic concerns about the negative influence of the criminal justice system on children's educational experiences and thus on children's capacity to escape the prison pipeline experienced by their parents.

Similar to the prison pipeline, the school-to-prison-pipeline is a process where school exclusion (i.e., suspension and expulsion through zero-tolerance), school disciplinary policies and practices (including school resources officers) put students into contact with law enforcement for disciplinary reasons, especially African Americans (Rodriguez-Ruiz, 2017; Shlafer et al., 2017). These processes push students out of the educational environment and into the juvenile justice system, and ultimately the criminal justice system. Part of the “school push-out” process in this school-to-prison-pipeline includes the receipt of criminal violation tickets in the school and community environments. Furthermore, the severe overrepresentation of African Americans may be affecting children’s educational outcomes and placing children at increased risk of juvenile justice involvement, the school-to-prison pipeline, and possibly intergenerational incarceration.

Research and Practice Implications

Parental incarceration has social, emotional, behavioral, and academic implications for students who experience this on-going traumatic event. A social implication of parental incarceration can be the normalization of incarceration in a student’s environment, which can reinforce the school-to-prison pipeline. Some students may become accustomed to incarceration if it is visible in their family or neighborhood environments. This normalization can also impact a student’s acquisition of the school curriculum. Additionally, life circumstances as well as cognitive processes might make a student believe that incarceration is an inevitable experience so there is no need to attempt to be successful at school and make the conscious choice to participate in behaviors that could expose them to the juvenile justice system. Research conducted in the areas of parental incarceration and its possible associations and influences should be examined.

This study began with the premise that parental incarceration experiences in African American students is associated with educational outcomes, SES, school exclusion, and juvenile justice involvement. The study results revealed that in this small population of African American students, over one-fourth of the population had experienced parental incarceration. The replication of this study with a larger population (i.e., possibly an urban school district using numerous schools) and higher statistical analyses (i.e., hierarchical regression or structural equation modeling) can help develop research in the area that examines the predictors of parental incarceration in African American students and use this research to inform practice interventions for this traumatic experience. Another research implication is the examination of child resiliency factors and child impairment factors in African American students exposed to parental incarceration. Miller (2007) argues that supporting children’s familial connections and ensuring that children have opportunities for positive interactions with their social environments can be instrumental in facilitating resilience mechanisms that alleviate the impairment risks associated with parental incarceration.

A practice implication for student service personnel who work with African American students who experience parental incarceration is training in trauma-informed care to address trauma-related issues. Instituting a school health team focused on trauma may normalize mental health issues associated with parental incarceration and bring trauma-informed care onto campus (Larson et al., 2017). Trauma-informed care in schools acknowledges that students cannot learn when they are experiencing toxic stress from chronic and severe trauma, such as parental incarceration. This stress may manifest itself through delinquency (i.e. truancy, defiance of authority figures, drug use, etc.) and lack of motivation (i.e. lack of engagement, intrusive thoughts, inattentive, frustration, isolation, etc.). Faculty, staff, and administrators can help reduce the impact of trauma on students who are experiencing parental incarceration by recognizing trauma responses, responding to these students in the classroom setting (instead of administering exclusionary discipline), and referring students to outside resources when necessary. A trauma-informed intervention should use data to identify students who are affected by parental incarceration and other traumatic events that affect equal access to the school curriculum. Horton (2019) described an established trauma-informed curriculum, Cognitive Behavioral Interventions for Trauma in Schools (CBITS) developed by the National Child Traumatic Stress Network-NCTSN (2004) and explained how to adapt this training curriculum to provide trauma-informed services in a unique school environment to address issues that affect students’ equal access to the school curriculum. The use of CBITS with students experiencing trauma as a result of parental incarceration could improve student’ educational performance.

Limitations of the Study

The study findings should be interpreted with caution. As a preliminary study, there were several limitations for the generalizability and replication of this study. First, this study utilized a small convenience sample of African American students that completed a self-report survey. Generalizability is limited with convenience sampling, and this form of sampling can create high biases and favor certain outcomes, and self-report data for youth risk social desirability bias. Furthermore, the child’s age at time of incarceration, the length of the parents’ incarceration, which parent was incarcerated, and who they lived with during the incarceration, were all unknown factors that could have impacted the findings. Moreover, the family’s SES was only determined through receipt of free-reduced lunch. This data could provide information on how the family’s SES was affected by the incarceration or whether the family’s SES was the motivating factor (or preceded) the incarceration, as research (Glaze & Maruschack, 2008, 2010) has found that over two-thirds of the incarcerated population is there for crimes of poverty (i.e., property theft, drug use, or drug dealing). Future research should address these limitations to determine any additional relationships, as well as possible causations. Furthermore, future research can increase the rigor of the statistical procedures with the use of a higher ‘n’ to further examine the study results. Also, this study did not assess resiliency factors that may protect some students from the negative impacts of parental incarceration.

In conclusion, the findings suggest that parental incarceration is associated with low SES, being retained (failing a grade), school exclusion, and juvenile justice involvement. Findings support the need for additional research around trauma-informed care, and the need to study whether the implementation of trauma-informed educational responses (i.e., cognitive behavioral therapy by school-based mental health clinicians) could help reduce the negative educational impacts of parental incarceration and increase the overall health of students (Gerlach, 2020; Stein et al., 2003). The social and emotional health of students is linked to their academic and overall success in schools or the lack thereof (Arrastia-Chisholm et al., 2020), and creativity and collaboration with the school, family, and community will likely better serve the educational and social/emotional needs of students who experience parental incarceration, especially due to the likelihood of African American students experiencing parental incarceration at a higher rate than European or Latin American students. These are important areas of study for African American students experiencing parental incarceration.

Declarations

Conflict of Interest Statement

The corresponding author (sole author) states that there is no conflict of interest.