Social Exclusion and Parental Incarceration Impacts on Adolescents' Networks and School Engagement

Abstract

Although prior research links parental incarceration to deleterious outcomes for children over the life-course, few studies have examined whether such incarceration affects the social exclusion of children during adolescence. Drawing on several lines of scholarship, we examine whether adolescents with incarcerated parents have fewer or lower quality relationships, participate in more antisocial peer networks, and feel less integrated or engaged in school. The study applies propensity score matching to survey and network data from a national sample of youth. Analyses indicated that children with incarcerated parents have more antisocial peers; we found limited evidence, though, that parental incarceration adversely impacts peer networks and school integration domains. Generally, the results suggested that the impacts of parental incarceration on adolescents' social lives have less to do with isolation than with the types of peers adolescents befriend. Findings provide support for the idea that parental incarceration may adversely affect children's social exclusion.

School punishment and interpersonal exclusion: Rejection, withdrawal, and separation from friends

“…Nevertheless, my findings are bolstered by my fixed‐effects results for student‐ and parent‐perceived exclusion. Future research should be aimed at applying a similar longitudinal network approach to examining these exclusionary processes after formal sanctions by other institutions, including the criminal justice system (Bryan, ; Cochran et al., ).…”

“…Moreover, I aim to advance knowledge of the prevalence and outcomes of suspension in rural schools. I also join others in shifting the focus dominating prior labeling research from diminished institutional attachment and secondary deviance to the micro‐level processes of interpersonal exclusion implied in labeling theories (Cochran et al., ; Mowen, ; Rengifo & DeWitt, ). Additionally, I show one way these network processes may be observed over time (also Schaefer et al., ), which is a particularly important contribution in the context of suspension because of the limited availability of individual‐level school discipline information combined with longitudinal network data.…”

“…They are also more disadvantaged and may have difficulty maintaining ties as a result of issues like residential mobility (South, Haynie, & Bose, ), longer travel distances (particularly in rural communities; Fox, ), or other stigmas already present. For example, parental criminal justice involvement is associated with peer exclusion and suspension (Bryan, ; Cochran, Siennick, & Mears, ; Jacobsen, ).…”

Mechanisms and Pedagogical Counterforces of Young People’s Social Exclusion: Some Remarks on the Requisites of Social Sustainability

“…Social exclusion is intimately connected with inter-generational cumulative disadvantages. Family life conditions appear to play an important role both in causing risks and protection (see e.g., [109][110][111]). Furthermore, adequate systems of education and services may significantly tackle social exclusion by providing support for children and young people in need (cf.…”

“…Early interventions are emphasized [89] (pp. [110][111][112]. The legislation aims to develop an extensive and coordinated system of adequate child and youth care services under the responsibility of the local authorities.…”