No abstract

Incarceration of a parent is associated with negative consequences for children, such as behavioral problems, the development of antisocial personality traits, and decreased educational attainment. Data from the Multi-site Family Study on Incarceration, Parenting, and Partnering was used to analyze four measures of the coparenting relationship in families in which the father is incarcerated and the mother is not, to examine if a higher quality, more cohesive coparenting relationship is associated with fewer adverse childhood experiences for the parents’ shared child. Findings suggest that children of parents who frequently argue about the child are more likely to have ever been suspended or expelled from school and are more likely to have ever had to live outside of the home with a relative, family friend, or foster parents. Clinical implications are discussed, and future directions call for research, practice, and training to improve outcomes for incarcerated coparents and their children.

High rates of incarceration in the United States has prompted researchers to study the impacts of imprisonment on romantic relationships and minor children. We examine the relationship between several prison facility barriers to relational maintenance and perceptions of relationship quality from the perspective of women whose male romantic, coparenting partners are incarcerated. Using data from the Multi-site Family Study on Incarceration, Parenting and Partnering (MFS-IP) and binomial logistic regression, we find that the high costs of phone calls and difficulty of in-person visitation negatively impact how women perceive romantic relationship quality. These findings suggest that alleviating barriers to contact can help strengthen couples’ relationships.

Previous macro-level studies of racial and ethnic disparities in prison admissions have focused narrowly on differences in offending and have limited their analyses to national- and state-level data. This study explores three alternative explanations for inequality in prison admissions for Blacks and Latinos compared to Whites: racial/ethnic threat, socioeconomic inequality, and the political and legal climate. I analyze data from multiple county- and state-level sources and employ hierarchical linear modeling techniques to examine the role of both county- and state-level factors in producing inequality in county-level prison admission rates. Findings indicate that Black–White disparities are lower in jurisdictions with greater shares of Black citizens; however, the reverse is true for Latino–White inequality. For both comparisons, political conservatism is associated with less inequality. Results also indicate that counties with greater parity in income and employment across race/ethnicity and that are located in the South have reduced racial/ethnic disparities in prison admissions. I argue that the presence of large shares of African Americans and of Republican voters, in addition to southern location, are likely better indicators of total prison admission rates than of racial/ethnic disparities in prison admissions.

Incarcerated fathers and their coparenting partners experience serious challenges to their health and well-being. Romantic involvement and coparenting suggests that mental health and consensus of coparenting may predict the physical health of not only the individual, but also their partner. Data from the Multi-site Family Study on Incarceration, Parenting and Partnering was used to examine 483 romantically involved coparents. Actor-Partner Interdependence Modeling showed a significant link between mental and physical health for each dyad member as well as a significant link between perceived consensus of coparenting from men to women, indicating that women whose partners reported a higher perceived consensus of coparenting also reported better physical health.