Losing a Child to Juvenile Incarceration: An Experience of Grief and Loss
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Authors
Snider, Katie May
Issue Date
2023
Type
Dissertation
Language
Keywords
Coping , Corrections , Families , Grief , Juvenile Justice , Parents
Alternative Title
Abstract
The government and the general public have a vested interest in children being raised in a manner compatible with the dominant social mores, and parents are charged with the responsibility of raising their children in line with social goals. When children break the law, the government reserves the right to intervene (Ex Parte Crouse, 1839). Parental engagement has been demonstrated to lead to better outcomes for youth, and parents are often required to participate in the juvenile justice process. Unfortunately, very few studies have examined parents' lived experiences of their children’s juvenile incarceration. In this study, I integrated theories from psychology and sociology to adapt the Dual Process Model of Coping with Bereavement (DPM; Stroebe & Schut, 1999; 2010; 2015; 2016) to a novel context and developed an Integrated Dual Process Model of Coping as the Parent of an Incarcerated Child (DPM-PIC). This model was informed by prior research on families and incarceration and was influenced by both psychological and sociological approaches to the study of incarceration, emotion, and loss. I implemented a constructivist/interpretive approach, which supports the assumption that how parents interpret their own experience matters, while acknowledging that as the researcher, I am also influential in the interpretation of that experience. The constructivist/interpretive approach is often used in grounded theory. However, incorporating a theoretical model helped to structure the research and incorporate prior research on family members of incarcerated adults. To conduct this study, I distributed study advertisements to a robust network of juvenile justice and advocacy professionals and shared study advertisements across social media platforms. Parents responding to the advertisements were directed to a screening survey which also served as a sign-up and scheduling form for in-depth interviews. Parents who completed the initial survey were entered into a drawing for one of several Amazon gift cards, and parents who completed an interview were offered a choice between an Amazon or a Visa gift card.In this study, I interviewed 8 participants from across the United States. Participants varied considerably from the population of incarcerated youth on important sociodemographic characteristics like age and socioeconomic status. The majority of participants were white (75%), and several reported middle-class or higher incomes. Several participants mentioned that they were lucky or fortunate compared to other parents, in that they had more material and social resources with which to address their child’s situation or a greater capacity or knowledge of the system. Participants in this study described experiences that reflected all of the anticipated themes identified in the DPM-PIC. Parents addressed different components of the model to varying degrees and focused on different aspects of their experience. All participants described both loss and restoration orientation stressors, and overload factors like financial strain and stigma. Most participants described ambiguity or disenfranchisement. Parents described secondary prisonization and frustrations with the justice process. Several parents also described additional losses including hopes for their child’s future and social support/relationships. Many described adopting new perspectives, roles, and identities throughout their justice system experience. The experiences that participants described represent a complex and highly emotional journey which has implications for the justice system and related research.