The Effects of Incarceration on Families

Outside Salem Central Prison in India

When someone commits a crime, it changes their life’s destiny. However, the impact of the crime and incarceration not only affects the criminal, but has a compounded impact on the lives of their families and friends. The 20 countries with the largest numbers of prisoners in the world have nearly 7 million incarcerated individuals combined. 

While that is a lot of people serving jail time, consider the millions related or connected to them who are also implicated - wives, husbands, daughters, sons, mothers, fathers, and more. Although these individuals did nothing wrong, they still pay a price because of their relative’s crime and incarceration. This article focuses on the effects of incarceration on families, especially on the daughters and sons of the incarcerated individuals. 

The Impact of Incarceration on Families 

Economic Hardship - Once incarcerated, the individual can no longer contribute to the family financially. This significantly impacts their family’s income which can have severe consequences for their children’s wellbeing. Then, there is the cost of legal fees and other expenses the family must pay further curtailing their financial situation. 

Studies show that this can result in a family’s income dropping by 22% during the incarceration period, and can remain 15% lower even after the incarcerated individual re-enters society. For families dealing with incarceration, this can affect many things, like the quality of life, ability to secure safe housing, the capacity to send children to school, the food they can afford, and more. 

Social Impact - The families of individuals who are incarcerated are also affected socially. This is because the incarcerated individual had a certain function within the family and is no longer there performing that function. It can also lead to social stigmatization as people in the community may unjustly blame the family for their family member’s actions. These families can sometimes even be completely ostracized from the community. 

This is especially detrimental to children who can be bullied and left out at school, no longer be able to see friends, and simply not have the individual in their lives like they once did. It can also adversely impact chances of marriage, especially for the female members of the family. 

Emotional and Psychological Effects - Incarceration can also have emotional and psychological effects on families, especially on children. When a parent is incarcerated, children are more likely to suffer from depression, anxiety, ADD/ADHD, fear, sadness, loneliness, and other consequences affecting their overall emotional and psychological well-being, which may follow them into adolescence and adulthood.

Behavioral Issues - Children with an incarcerated parent can also develop behavioral issues that coincide with the emotional and psychological effects they experience. These issues can lead to children acting out, displaying disruptive behavior in school and other settings, and can even increase the likelihood of future delinquency or criminal behavior themselves. 

At Tiyara, we understand the empowering role education plays in addressing the negative effects of incarceration, and how it can help lead to positive outcomes. We seek to provide educational opportunities that will make life-changing differences for under-resourced young women and men in India, equipping them to pursue professional and skilled employment. Many of these young women and men have had their lives changed by crime, and our provision of educational scholarships empowers them to overcome their circumstances. 

You can help make a difference by providing technology for our students, other education-related costs, or by putting a deserving young person through college!