1. THE ERA OF PATERNAL INCARCERATION
THE LATENT CYCLE OF EFFECTS
CHRISTIANH. BINGHAM
UNIVERSITY OF VERMONT
Department of Sociology
MAY 5, 2015

2. The Era of Paternal Incarceration: The Latent Cycle of Effects ChristianH.Bingham
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Table of Contents
Abstract.............................................................................................................................................2
Introduction.......................................................................................................................................3
Literature Review ...............................................................................................................................3
Prevalence of Incarcerationin the United States...............................................................................3
The Latent Effects on Children.........................................................................................................4
Applied Research................................................................................................................................6
Purpose..........................................................................................................................................6
Methods ........................................................................................................................................6
Data Source ................................................................................................................................6
Measures....................................................................................................................................6
Analyses .....................................................................................................................................6
Results...........................................................................................................................................7
Demographics.............................................................................................................................7
Frequencies ................................................................................................................................7
Regression..................................................................................................................................9
Discussion........................................................................................................................................10
The Need for Change ....................................................................................................................10
Implemented Programs.................................................................................................................11
Research Limitations.....................................................................................................................11
Policy Recommendations ..............................................................................................................12
Bibliography.....................................................................................................................................13

3. The Era of Paternal Incarceration: The Latent Cycle of Effects ChristianH.Bingham
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Abstract
Paternal incarcerationtodayhasbecome extremelyprevalent. In2013, there wasover1.5
millionindividualsare inthe UnitedStatesprisonsystem, of which,1.4millionare males.These statistics
make the UnitedStatesthe most incarceratednationinthe world.Thisislargelyaresult of changesin
the U.S. judicial systemthatwere enactedoverthe lastthree decadeswhichcreatedmandatory
minimumsentences.
Throughpreliminaryresearch the authorfoundacorrelationbetweenpaternal incarceration
and the likelihoodof the prisoner’schildbeing incarcerated. Thiscreatesacycle of latenteffectsmaking
each childafterthe nextina family’s bloodline more likelytobe incarcerated if acurrent or prior
generation fatherwas subjecttoincarceration.Also,paternal incarcerationhasbeenlinkedtoachild’s:
delinquency,socialdisorders,defiantbehaviors,andmore.
Throughmy ownresearchusingdata collectedfrominmatesacrossVermontIhave beenable to
not onlyprove these facts,butalsocreate quantitative scale of effectspaternal incarcerationhas
regardingan inmate’sage of incarceration.If aninmate identifiedashavingafatherwhowasarrested
or incarcerated,theirage of firstincarcerationdropsbythree yearsand theirage at the beginningof
theircurrentincarcerationdropsbyabout 9 years.
As of 2007 there were more than1.7 millionchildrenwithincarceratedparents.Following
genderrelateddatatrends,mostof saidparentsare likelytobe men.The needforpolicyreform
becomesevident. Thisauthorpostulatesthat toreduce the lastingeffectsof paternal incarcerationthe
UnitedStatesJustice Systemneeds:tobetterfacilitatecontactbetweenchildrenandtheirincarcerated
father,implementmore familyorientatedprogramsaimedat teachingfatherstobettercare for their
childrenuponrelease,tolookatalternativesforlessseriouscrimesforthose whoare fathers.

4. The Era of Paternal Incarceration: The Latent Cycle of Effects ChristianH.Bingham
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Introduction
The followingpaperisthe undergraduate sociological researchworkof ChristianH.Binghamin
conjunctionwiththe Universityof Vermont’sdepartmentof sociology. The studyisbasedaround
paternal incarcerationandthe latenteffectsonthe prisoner’soff-spring.Throughthisresearch the
author will:1) give abackgroundto the incidence of paternal incarceration,2) demonstrate the
reoccurringeffects onchildren,and3) presentconclusionsonthe topic.
The goal of the followingresearchistomake policychange recommendationstothe Vermont
Departmentof Corrections.Workwasdone incollaborationwithJillEvans,Directorof Womenand
FamilyServices,aspartof Vermont’sAgencyof HumanServices.All research wasdone underthe
supervisionof ProfessorJennifer Anne Strickler(Ph.D.PrincetonUniversity,1993).
Literature Review
Prevalence of Incarceration in the United States
Accordingto the Bureauof Justice Statistics,asof December31,2013, there were anestimated
1,574,700 prisonersinstate andfederal correctional facilities. Of those incarcerated,1,463,454 were
male while only111,287 were female. Thisnumberhasbeensteadilyincreasingsince 1980, at which
pointthere were amere 250,000 prisoners1
(inbothstate andfederal facilities). “Whilethe United
Stateshad only5 percentof the world’spopulation,ithasnearly25 percentof itsprisoners”(Collier
2014). Our prisonrate is followedbyChina,whose dictatorial leadershipisarguablymore draconian,
accordingto the InternationalCentre forPrisonStudies.
By middle of the year2000, the imprisonmentrate wasaroundfive timesgreaterthanwhatit
was in1970 (GreenbergandWest2001). The comparisonof worldwide incarcerationratesisstaggering,
1 Estimated number based off of the Bureau of Justice Statistics “Total State and Federal Prison Populations,1978-
2013” graph

5. The Era of Paternal Incarceration: The Latent Cycle of Effects ChristianH.Bingham
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as Lorna Collierof the AmericanPsychological Associationwrites,the UnitedStateshas a“percapita
rate five to10 timeshigherthanthatin WesternEurope or otherdemocracies”(2014: 56).
The cause of our increasingimprisonmentrate isdue to the change of judicial punishment
policiesduringthe early1970’s(Collier2014). Yet, mostwouldforesee thatimprisonmentbe tobe
relatedtoviolentcrimes,whose sentence wouldfitthe charge andthusbe beneficialtosociety,buta
majorityof our prisonpopulationisincarcerateddue tonon-violentpropertycrimes(Greenbergand
West2001). Suchtough-on-crime changeswere aresultof the crack and cocaine epidemicthatwas
occurringduringthe time period.
The Latent Effects on Children
In 2007, there were an estimated1,706,600 minorchildrenwithincarceratedparentsinthe
UnitedStates(Glaze andMaruschak 2008). This numberaccountsforover2 percentof the U.S
populationunderthe age of 18. The effectsanincarceratedparenthasdoesnotsimplyendwiththe
incarceratedindividual.Sucheffectsmaynotbe seenforyearsor evendecadesandmanifestintheir
children. A longitudinal studyof 1395 Pittsburghareaboys(Farringtonetal.2001) showedthatarrests
of anyrelative toa childpredictedtheirdelinquentbehavior.Although,the “the mostimportantrelative
was the father;arrestsof the fatherpredictedthe boy’sdelinquencyindependentlyof all otherarrested
relatives”(Farringtonetal.2001).
One majordeterminate inthe waya childisraisediswhetherornottheirparentis incarcerated
duringtheirupbringing. “dysfunctionsinparentingorparent-childbondingcanhave devastatingeffects
on childgrowthanddevelopment.Thismaybeginininfancywithmanifestationsof classicnon-organic
failure tothrive andcan continue throughchildhood”.Suchmanifestationscanbe “developmental
delaysanddisorders,oppositional anddefiantbehaviors, conductdisorders,juvenile delinquencyand
adultcriminality”(Palusci etal.2007:80)

6. The Era of Paternal Incarceration: The Latent Cycle of Effects ChristianH.Bingham
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“Studiesfromseveral countriesshow thatpaternal criminalitypredictschildren’sowncriminal
behaviorinlaterlife”(Murray,Janson,andFarrington2007:133). To prove this,Murray,Janson,and
Farrington(2007) ran a studybasedout of London;the resultswere that,“of boys whoexperienced
paternal incarcerationintheirfirst10 yearsof life,48% were convictedasadults”.

7. The Era of Paternal Incarceration: The Latent Cycle of Effects ChristianH.Bingham
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Applied Research
Purpose
Research, usingsurveydatacollectedthroughoutthe State of Vermont,will be usedtoexamine
the quantitative effects of paternal incarcerationon the life-courseof the prisoner’s child. The work is
basedon prisoners’responsestoquestionsabouttheirownlivesandincarcerationandthe livesof their
parentsand grandparents. Basedonresults,the authorwill describe aself-perpetuatingcycle inthe
prisonsystem. Withoutinterjection,the problemwillgetworse.
Methods
Data Source
Surveydatausedfor thisresearch waspreviously gatheredthrough face-to-faceinterviewswith
inmatesfromeachVermontState Correctional Facility.The samplingmethodusedwasevery4th
inmate
and the responsestotaled379. Inmateswere notincentivized toparticipate. Surveyadministratorsalso
made it clearto participantsthat theirparticipationwouldnotimpacttheirsentence. The sample is
generalizable amongall Vermontstate prison inmates.
Measures
Surveyparticipantswere askedavarietyof questions abouttheirlivesandtheirfamily.
Response datawascodedand enteredintoSPSSbya third-party. More than350 variableswere studied.
The researchprocess was deductive and initiallyfocusedonprisonerswhosefathershadalsobeen
incarcerated.
Analyses
To conduct appropriate analyses,variableshadtobe recodedandcombined.Forexample,to
understandhowmanychildren afatherhadwas a three-stepprocess.First, the authorusedanIF
functiontoidentify participantswhohadchildren.Simultaneously,anSPSScompute function solvedfor
howmany childrenhadandat what age.Lastly,a frequencyanalysis wasusedtocalculate modal
results.

8. The Era of Paternal Incarceration: The Latent Cycle of Effects ChristianH.Bingham
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0.0%
10.0%
20.0%
30.0%
40.0%
50.0%
60.0%
70.0%
80.0%
90.0%
Male Female
88.4%
11.6%
77%
11%
4%
4% 3% 1%
Caucasian/White
African-American or
Black
Native American
Other
Latino/a or Hispanic
No Response
Significantresultswere foundbyusingvariousregressions.Toshow the cycle of effects, the
author studied variablesfromeachpartof the inmate’slife.These variablesconsistedof attained
education,age of firstincarceration,age atthe beginningof theircurrentincarceration,andadverse
livingsituationsasa youth.The resultswere comparedtothose whose fathershadneverbeen arrested
or incarcerated.
Results
Demographics
Of those surveyed,more than88 percentwere male (Graph1) and 77 percentidentified
themselves as“Caucasian/white”(Graph2).The genderbreakdownof the inmatescloselyrelatesto
national averages.Yet,incomparisontonational averages,the Vermontprisonpopulation ismuchmore
raciallyhomogeneous.
Graph 1 Graph 2
Frequencies
64.1 percentof those surveyed (243) identifiedashavingchildren (Graphs3and 4). Of the
males,63 percent(211 respondents)identified themselves asfathers (Graphs3 and 4).Of the
incarceratedfemales,about73% (32 respondents)identified themselves asmothers (Graphs3 and4).

9. The Era of Paternal Incarceration: The Latent Cycle of Effects ChristianH.Bingham
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0.0%
10.0%
20.0%
30.0%
40.0%
50.0%
60.0%
70.0%
80.0%
90.0%
100.0%
Parent Father Mother
64.1% 63.0%
72.7%
20.00
70.00
120.00
170.00
220.00
270.00
320.00
370.00
Parent Father Mother
243.00
211.00
32.00
Graph 3 Graph 4
Of those thatidentifiedasfathers,about32 percentrespondedashavingone child and25
percentrespondedashavingtwochildren. Graph5 exhibitsthese andadditional results.
Graph 5
Graph 6 presentsthe agesof prisoners’children.The modal response was the 6-12 age cohort,
followedclosely the 2-5age cohort.
0.0%
5.0%
10.0%
15.0%
20.0%
25.0%
30.0%
35.0%
None or No
Response
1 2 3 4 5 6 13
16.1%
31.8%
25.1%
14.2%
7.1%
2.8% 2.4%
0.5%
RESPONSEPERCENT
NUMBER OF CHILDREN

10. The Era of Paternal Incarceration: The Latent Cycle of Effects ChristianH.Bingham
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0
50
100
150
Under two Between two
and five
Between six
and twelve
Between
thirteen to
seventeen
8% - 33
34% - 134
38% - 149
20% - 80
CHILDCOUNT
AGE (YEARS)
17
18
19
20
21
22
Average Father was Incarcerated
Age, 21.88
Age, 19.051
INMATE'SAGEOFFIRST
INCARCERATION
(YEARS)
Sig. = ≤ .001
Graph 6
Regression
Usinga regressionanalysis,acorrelationbetween paternal incarcerations andthe age of the
inmate’sfirstincarcerated (Graph7) and the age at the beginningof theircurrentincarceration(Graph
8) was established.
Graph 7

11. The Era of Paternal Incarceration: The Latent Cycle of Effects ChristianH.Bingham
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17
22
27
32
Average Father was Incarcerated
Age, 33.732
Age, 25.061
INMATE'SAGEATTHE
BEGINNINGOFTHEIR
CURRENTINCARCERATION
(YEARS)
Sig. = ≤ .001
Graph 8
Usingtwo separate regressiontestsasignificant relationship (alphaislessthan.05) between
paternal incarceration,education,andadverse youthlivingsituations wasestablished.If aninmate’s
fatherwasarrestedor incarcerated, the inmate themselves werelikelytobe lesseducated thanother
inmates. Moreover,theywere more likelytohave:livedinafosterhome,be homelessasachild,or be
inemergencycare. Theywere alsomore likelytohave experienced anycombinationof adverse living
situations.
Discussion
The Need for Change
In 2007 there were more than1.7 millionchildrenof incarceratedparents. Asaresultof latent
effects,manyof thischildrencanbe expectedtoalsobe incarcerated.The case of a boy namedSamwill
be usedto illustrate thispoint. InSam’searlylife,hisfatherwasincarcerated.Fromthe author’s
research, more than30 percentof those incarceratedinVermontidentifiedashavingafatherwhowas
arrestedor incarcerated.Asa resultof Sam’sfatherbeingincarcerated,he grows upinadverse
conditions.His family’sresourcesbecome are strained- hismotherorcaretakermaystruggle to
maintainlivingfunds.Because of this,the child isnotable tospendasmuch time withthismotheror
caretaker.Sam isthenmore likelytobe placedinan alternate livingsituationorbecome homeless.

12. The Era of Paternal Incarceration: The Latent Cycle of Effects ChristianH.Bingham
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Strugglingthroughthese experiences,Samismore likelytoact out,be delinquent,orresistauthority.
Sam isalsolesslikelytoget asgood an educationasthose whose fatherwasnotarrestedor
incarcerated. Samhimself is more likelytobe incarcerated. Evenworse, he ismore likelytobe
incarceratedat a youngerage - before hismindcanfullydevelop.The author’s regressiontestsfound
that those whose fatherwasarrestedorincarceratedwere more likelytogoto jail three yearsyounger
than theircounterparts. If Samhas children,he ismore likelytoputhischildat riskof growingupin
adverse conditions. Atthispointthe cycle continues.Sam’schildismore likelytobe incarcerated,his
grandchildrenare more likelytobe incarcerated,andsoon.
Implemented Programs
On December8th
2010, PresidentObamasignedthe ClaimsResolutionAct(CRA).Thisact
authorized$150 millioningrantstopromote healthymarriage ($75million) andResponsible
Fatherhood($75 million). The grants wenttoward:12 state prisonsinWestVirginia,5male correctional
facilitiesinSouthDakota,8 departmentof correctionsfacilitiesinNew Jersey,1state prisoninNew
Mexico,and3 state prisonsinOhio.The programsmade possible bythe CRA will helppreventfathers
frombecomingincarceratedandstrengthenfamilybonds, creatingbetteropportunitystructuresfor
individualsandfamilies atriskof the latenteffectsof incarceration..
Research Limitations
It isclear that more research isrequired due tothe vast effects of paternal incarceration. The
researchwaslimited toVermontprisoners –a populationthatis raciallyhomogeneous. Inaddition,
surveyquestionswere notincludedtoallow foranalysisof the impactof anycurrent programsaimedat
reducingthe riskof prisoner’schildrenfrombeingincarcerated. Tofindoutmore informationonthe
situation,interviewsurveysshouldbe collectdatafromchildren abouttheirfeelingsovertheirfather
beingincarcerated.Thisdatacouldbe used to informinterventionprogramdesign.Additionaldata

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regardinglife experiences,druguse,delinquency,andinmate childcontactwould allowforabetter
understandingof thisissue.
Policy Recommendations
More grants like the CRA needtobe implemented.Onalocal level,Vermontcouldreduce the
effectsof paternal incarceration byimplementingprogramsforincarceratedfathersthat: promote
healthyandsustainable marriagesandrelationships,reducesthe possible incidence of childabuse,
teachesfathershowtocare for theirchild,andpromotes economicstabilitywithinafamilyunit.The
purpose of these programswouldbe to:reduce adverse childhoodmental andsocial experiences,and
breakthe cycle of incarcerationamongfathersandtheirchildren.

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