Introduction
Parents are among the most significant people in a child's life. Some of them, however, cannot manage this demanding and responsible role. In such cases, it is necessary to provide the child with a safe environment, and placement in a children's home may be one solution. Some children living in a children's home have parents in their families with experience of serving a prison sentence. The main aim of this paper is to determine whether children are affected by their parents' incarceration. We will try to identify which areas of life of the observed children and young adults were affected. First, we will describe the methodology used and the theoretical premises. We will then present the course of the research and present important findings. The results show that the impact of parental incarceration on the child is clearly devastating. In conclusion, we will discuss the need for more intensive interdisciplinary cooperation and offer possible modifications to the educational process.
State of current knowledge
The issue of the impact of parental incarceration on children is addressed in extensive international literature, and there are many online sources available. In the Czech Republic, a broad range of materials is available from Mezinárodní vězeňské společenství, and the issue is addressed for example by Fojtů or Punová. The Czech Prison Service itself is also involved in addressing this problem and implements a range of activities, such as the Očima dítěte project. The outputs of the Children's Center Přerov project “Děti jsou bez viny – jak pracovat s pěstouny a dětmi v náhradní rodinné péči, jejichž rodič je ve vězení” are particularly interesting.
We have been intensively focusing on the issue of children's homes in the Czech Republic in our research for almost a decade. We are currently preparing a monograph devoted exclusively to children's homes. Available literature is either outdated or addresses the issue of children's homes only as a peripheral topic. Because of different systems of protection for children at risk, we do not work much with foreign titles; the exception is Slovak works, including those by Škoviery.
Methodology
We use a qualitative research design that has proven itself in our previous studies (Daněk, 2021, 2022). This design is based on interviews, long-term observation, and analysis of pedagogical documentation. We use unstructured interviews, which give us greater freedom. Observations are carried out during the normal operation of Dětský domov Klánovice. The information collected is then processed using grounded theory and interpretative phenomenological analysis. In our most recent research, elements of narrative analysis have proven useful; this can be understood as our interpretation of the stories we receive from individuals present in the researched environment, that is, reconstruction of narrative structures and retelling of accounts (Řiháček et al., 2013, p.75). We continuously revise the research design and modify it when research needs change.
We benefit from the researcher’s presence in the researched environment, as the author works as an educator and prevention methodologist at Dětský domov Klánovice. Children and young adults approach the author as a member of their social structures, which proves to be essential. In several research experiments, we found that children and young adults modify their answers according to researchers’ expectations. As part of the studied environment, we have greater opportunity to capture reality. We are, however, aware of the risk of confirmation bias that could arise from a non-objective approach. For this reason, we submit our results for review by experts with no ties to the research setting. Qualitative research does allow deeper insight into the researched problem, but the results cannot be presented as universally valid. They are valid only for the studied environment, for the studied group, and for a clearly defined time-space context.
We studied the environment of Dětský domov Klánovice, where we have conducted qualitative research since 2014. A preliminary study was conducted to identify children and young adults with experience of having a parent in prison. Relevant pedagogical documentation was subsequently obtained. We collected a set of individual case studies that formed the basis for our case study (Chrastina, 2021, p. 136). Primary data collection ran from January to April 2022. We presented preliminary findings at the conference “Problémy a otázky resocializace v současné penitenciární praxi,” and at the end of 2022 we reviewed our results. For this research, we posed two research questions:
- In which areas of life does parental incarceration affect the child?
- How do children perceive the incarceration of their parents?
Research environment
Dětský domov Klánovice is an educational institution for the provision of institutional upbringing. Institutional upbringing is ordered by a civil-law court when a family is not able to fulfil its role. The children's home is intended for children and young adults without severe behavioral disorders. This does not mean, however, that the residents of children’s homes are free from problems. Children come almost exclusively from families that can be classified as pathological. Violence, neglect, alcohol, drugs, abuse. These are only fragments of the range of negative influences to which children have been exposed over a long period. According to our information, the typical duration of these pathological influences before intervention by OSPOD is about five years. It is also important to note that the overwhelming majority of our children have at least one prior stay in a facility for children requiring immediate help (ZDVOP, commonly known as Klokánky), or another form of substitute family care. Institutional upbringing is therefore ordered only when the social and legal child protection system has failed to repair disrupted families and no alternative substitute family care has been available. It is clear that all children came to Dětský domov Klánovice with severe emotional deprivation. In a large part of them, we can observe signs of CAN syndrome. Children in children's homes may be identified as children with special educational needs. Based on our previous research, we dare to state that the largest deficits can be observed in social competencies. Although the current narrative often favours an uncomplicated view of institutional upbringing, our findings confirm the need for a state-guaranteed safe environment for children for whom no alternative substitute family care can be offered (Škoviera, 2007).
Research process and significant findings
According to expert sources, the issue of an incarcerated parent or family member concerns 30,000 to 40,000 children in the Czech Republic, which corresponds to roughly 2% of all children and young adults (Fojtů, 2020). After analyzing the pedagogical documentation of Dětský domov Klánovice, we found that in the last year 9 out of 54 children had a parent or caregiver in prison. It is evident that children and young adults with a parent in prison are significantly overrepresented in this environment compared to the intact population. In repeated interviews with children and young adults, we found that experiences involving a wider-family member in prison included far more children than we expected. Due to missing records in pedagogical documentation, we cannot present exact counts. By our estimates, this could involve up to 30% of children in our studied environment.
In interviews, we recorded substantial minimization of the offences that brought respondents’ parents to imprisonment. All respondents spoke of minor transgressions for which the parents were also not responsible. We always observed efforts to shift the cause of incarceration onto external factors, such as social injustice or social discrimination.
A particularly informative source was the analysis of correspondence written by incarcerated parents, to which researchers usually do not have access. We had access to letters written by fathers. The most striking features were poor spelling and an almost complete lack of self-reflection. The parents included expressions of love for their children, but in no case were they willing to acknowledge their own role in the current situation. In their accounts, imprisonment was fundamentally presented as the result of an unfair court, biased police authorities, or an undefined intervention of a higher power. This subsequently influenced the children’s views. In the analysis of the correspondence, we noted psychological immaturity, a boyish carefree mindset marked by an inability to delay satisfaction of one’s own needs, and a tendency to avoid responsibility, obligations, and commitments, which points to a crisis of masculine role models in contemporary society (Kuchařová, 2020, p. 152).
Among all boys with a parent in prison, we recorded signs of behavioral disorders. The boys tended toward violent problem-solving. Another common feature was a negative relationship with representatives of law-and-order institutions. All members of our studied group shared low self-esteem and difficulties in forming deeper relationships.
We devoted the most space to two young women from a family group with whom the author works. Their fathers are repeat offenders with long sentences. Both said how much they care about their daughters’ futures. They frequently write letters, call, and use visit opportunities. Until adulthood, it was necessary to arrange a caregiver to be present during visits; currently, the children's home provides transportation for the girls to prisons. The girls view prison visits as a duty to their father. Both also send their fathers approved parcels, financed from pocket money and earnings from temporary jobs. The girls speak about how they will live with their fathers after release and build new families. Here we see a major future problem. Family is the most important social factor in which a child develops behaviour patterns. Family can also become a risk factor for the development of behavioral disorders if various pathological phenomena occur there. We are primarily referring to cases in which family members model antisocial or anti-social behaviour (Blažek et al., 2019, p.30). Family is also traditionally seen as the key factor whose failure enables children’s criminal behaviour (Sychrová, 2014, p.121). It is clear that children of incarcerated parents are at greater risk of adopting undesired behaviour models (Davis et al., 2011, p.177). In addition, the economic dimension should be noted. Parents in prison cannot be economically active, and at the same time fines and penalties accumulate as their debts. After release, the existence of a criminal record complicates return to the labour market (Turney, 2018, p. 149). One respondent is followed in psychiatry. She clearly identified as one cause of her psychological problems the fact that her father is unable to fulfill parental duties. The girl also spoke about traumatic experiences from prison visits and pointed to her difficulties in partner relationships. Although we observed efforts to relativize parental incarceration, both respondents nevertheless experience this as strong social stigma.
Conclusion and recommendations for practice
We can state that parental incarceration has a serious impact on the child and negatively affects many areas of the child’s life (Martin, 2017). We observed its impact primarily on mental state and social competencies of the observed children. It is important to keep in mind that the group of children and young adults we studied is at risk not only from the negative impact of parental incarceration but also from the fact that their life setting is an institution (Drahý et al., 2018, p. 86).
A major problem for our research was the absence of detailed information about parents’ criminal activities. Special pedagogy intervention requires precise information, otherwise it will be ineffective. The various sectors do not have a legal duty to share information, and we also encounter questions regarding legal guardianship. The order of institutional upbringing does not automatically mean the removal of parental rights. We are convinced that interdisciplinary cooperation must be strengthened. The sectors of justice, education, social protection, and health care must join forces and start synergistic collaboration. In team cooperation it is important that we are able to accept individual differences, learn to understand and respect others, and build personal relationships with other team members through mutual collaboration. Every team member is a unique contribution (Stárek, 2021, p. 29). Intersectoral teams could be the tool that makes work with children and young adults who have experience of having a parent in prison more efficient.
At present, 4,247 children and young adults live in children’s homes (MŠMT, 2022). Some of them have a parent in prison, and each one of them will leave eventually. We therefore need to ask where their paths will lead. Aftercare is not sufficiently available for “standard” leavers, let alone specialized aftercare for young adults with an incarcerated parent. Based on our findings, it is necessary to call for the creation of a high-quality system of aftercare that would offer professional counselling and psychotherapeutic support, especially in the form of family therapeutic programs. Here we see significant opportunities for involvement of the nonprofit sector.
We are convinced that the group of children and young adults we studied belongs to the most heavily affected, most at-risk, and most support-requiring groups, requiring maximum professional engagement. Social disadvantage has a negative effect across the full range of child development (Stárek, 2021b). The comorbidity of trauma from parental incarceration and the impact of institutional environment requires a professional approach. This will require enrichment of educational programs preparing educators in school-based institutions for institutional upbringing with knowledge from resocialization and penitentiary fields (Allard, 2011, p. 8). Only in this way can the needs of this specific group of children and young adults be met.
Author: PhDr. Alois Daněk, Ph.D. Katedra speciální pedagogiky, Univerzita Jana Amose Komenského Praha s.r.o.
The author teaches at Univerzita Jana Amose Komenského Praha and is also an educator and prevention methodologist in Dětský domov Klánovice. This allows him to connect theory and practice. In his research, he focuses on issues related to children's homes and the possibilities of musical upbringing for modern special pedagogy. The author is currently preparing an international research project that would involve Czech children's homes and Slovak dětská centra.
Acknowledgment
This article is the result of the internal research project IGSO 7/2022 titled “Uplatnění mladých dospělých opouštějících dětský domov na současném trhu práce,” implemented in 2022 and 2023. The project was funded from a grant for the long-term strategic development of the research organization, which the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic provided to Univerzita Jana Amose Komenského Praha.
List of used abbreviations
CAN. Child abuse and neglect. Syndrome of the abused, exploited, and neglected child.
MŠMT. Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic.
OSPOD. Orgán sociálně-právní ochrany dětí.
ZDVOP. Zařízení pro děti vyžadující okamžitou pomoc.
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