Joe Fereti
11/21/2021
The American Criminal Justice System: The Impact of Juvenile Incarceration on Life Bibliography
Heard-Garris, N et al. (2019). Association of childhood history of parental incarceration and juvenile justice involvement with mental health in early adulthood. JAMA Network Open, 2, 9, e1910465. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2019.10465
In this study, the authors embarked on research to explore the impact of parental incarceration (PI) and juvenile justice involvement (JJI) on the mental health outcomes of young adults. A cross-sectional study of data from a national adolescent to adult health survey is relied upon to complete this research. The research finds that exposure to PI and JJI increases the risk of depression, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress disorder. Exposure to both did not impact mental health beyond the individual influences of PI and JJI.
The study’s findings are significant. The researchers observe particular gaps that they seek to address. For instance, little research considers the duality of PI and JJI, with many studies only considering these factors separately. Its findings are applicable in the current research, particularly relating to how early interactions with the justice system impact individuals in their adult lives. It reaches a different outcome concerning the impact of exposure to both PI and JJI, pointing to the need for more research to ascertain these assertions.
However, while the findings are insightful, certain limitations demand caution in applying the results. For instance, the unweighted sample of persons with PI plus JJI was small and, therefore, may not be sufficient to draw generalizations. Besides, the consideration of only biological parents and ignoring the incarceration of nonbiological caregivers means the assessed impact may have been underestimated. The duration, frequency, and offense causing PI and JJI are important factors that this study did not explore. It would therefore help to complement the article’s findings with others that explore these aspects.
Desai, S.R. (2019). “Hurt people, hurt people:” The trauma of juvenile incarceration. The Urban Review, 51, 638-658.
The author sought to explore the role of trauma in creating emotional, physical, mental, and spiritual distress among the youth who have had contact with the juvenile justice system. The data used to complete the study is from the Youth Participatory Action research (YPAR), collected over three years from participants in the program. Surveys and focus group interviews were employed in completing the study. Ten participants aged between 15 and 20 were included in the interviews, including five Latinas, three Latinos, one Dine female, and one African-American male. A conventional content analysis was applied to the collected data.
Being system-involved was found to have impacted the body, mind, and context of the youth. Besides, encounters with the justice system impact relationship with family, progress at school and have an adverse impact on employment opportunities. System-involved youths complained that JPOs were inept at locating resources such as employment, complete education, and stable housing and were limited to controlling behavior and substance abuse.
The inclusion of structured and semi-structured questions in the interviews allowed for an in-depth exploration of this subject. In so doing, the study allowed for an understanding of the impact of contact of youth with the justice system. Significantly, the study explores the impact of interventions in the justice system from the user’s perspective. These findings are relevant in the current research as they relate to the needs and appropriate interventions for system-involved youths. Nevertheless, despite its resourcefulness, the article does not demonstrate whether it adhered to ethical standards in collecting data, whether participants provided consent, and does not acknowledge the study’s limitations. These aspects need to be taken into account in applying its findings.
Harrison, A.J et al. (2020). Patterns of incarceration among youth after detention: A 16-year longitudinal study. Children and Youth Services Review, 108, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2019.104516
The study sought to investigate gender and racial patterns differences in the pattern of incarceration for individuals in detention. A total of 1829 individuals detained in Chicago between 1995 and 1998 were examined with lifetime dates and locations of their incarceration collected from correctional records. A cluster analysis was completed to identify distinct groups based on the incarcerations’ frequency, length, and setting.
The results showed that men were more susceptible to being incarcerated than women, and they were also likely to be incarcerated for more extended periods than women. Racial minorities were more likely to appear in categories with the most extensive incarceration histories, and intersectionality implies that men of color are particularly at a high risk of incarceration.
While the study yields findings consistent with generally accepted truths, it is significant because it explores the frequency and duration of incarceration by following a cohort throughout adolescence and young adulthood. This approach allows for an in-depth understanding of the risk of incarceration becoming entrenched. For this reason, its findings portend policy implications as a basis for promoting alternative corrective measures. Notwithstanding the important insights that the study generates, the data is drawn exclusively from Chicago and, therefore, may not be generalizable to the rest of the country. Besides, there were few participants of “other racial groups,” implying that they may not be representative of the minority groups from which they come. These shortcomings should be taken into consideration in applying the findings and suggest that only general rather than specific applications can be drawn from them.
Barnert, E.S et al. (2018). What is the relationship between incarceration of children and adult health outcomes? Academic Pediatrics, 19, 3, 342-350.
In this study, the authors aimed at quantifying the relationship between child incarceration and the associated adult health outcomes in the US. It was completed by analyzing data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health. Through a multivariate logistic regression, the research found that children incarcerated at 14 years or lower were disproportionately either black or Hispanic relative to those first incarcerated at between 15 and 24 years (the control group). Relative to the control group, children incarcerated at 14 years or lower also demonstrated a greater risk of adult depression, suicidal thoughts, and adult mobility limitations.
The distinctive contribution of this study is that it compares exposure to incarceration at different ages and tracks its impact on physical and mental health. It is critical within the current correction services framework as the US lacks a minimum age for juvenile policies. Tracking how these policies impact individuals exposed to them at different ages provides an objective basis for assessing their appropriateness or otherwise. Therefore, the study is relevant to the current research, particularly regarding the policy implications of these initiatives.
However, the study is not without limitations. For instance, because data was collected via self-reporting, the assertions made could not be verified, raising concerns about its credibility. Besides, recall bias is a potential problem as interviewees were asked to recall their age when they were first incarcerated. There is a risk that such adults could make innocent mistakes or even falsify this information to yield what they may perceive as favorable responses.
Turney, K. (2017). The unequal consequences of mass incarceration for children. Demography, 54, 1, 361-389.
In this article, the author sought to investigate the relationship between paternal incarceration on the one hand and problematic behavior and cognitive skills among children in middle childhood on the other hand. Data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study was used to complete the study. Propensity score matching was used to estimate the association of paternal incarceration and children’s wellbeing, and consequently, the heterogeneous relationship between the variables was estimated. The findings show that besides juvenile delinquency, the consequences are more deleterious for children with a low risk of exposure to paternal incarceration relative to those with a high exposure risk.
The findings of this study are different from those of previous ones and suggest that the intergenerational consequences of paternal incarceration are more complicated than the current knowledge base suggests. The study is important in enriching the existing body of knowledge and makes suggestions for areas on which future research should focus. It is, however, important that the interpretation of these findings be contextualized to understand their robustness.
Notable limitations of the study include the fact that it does not consider aspects of paternal incarceration such as duration and location of facility or account for the differential impact on different families. For instance, because paternal incarceration is measured over an eight-year period, some participants are further away from the experience than others. Comparing these two groups as if they had had similar experiences would yield inaccurate results. These limitations impact the extent to which the findings can be generalized.