TY  - JOUR
PY  - 1999//
TI  - Children of Incarcerated Mothers
JO  - Journal of child and family studies
A1  - Myers, Barbara J.
A1  - Smarsh, Tina M.
A1  - Amlund-Hagen, Kristine
A1  - Kennon, Suzanne
SP  - 11
EP  - 25
VL  - 8
IS  - 1
N2  - We review the literature on children whose mothers are incarcerated in jails or prisons. These children typically experience a great many risk factors besides their mothers' incarceration, including poverty, drug and alcohol problems in their families, community violence, and multiple changes in caregivers. Children's lives are greatly disrupted when mothers are arrested, and most children show emotional and behavioral problems. The impact this has depends on the age of the child, the alternate caregiving arrangements, and the course of the mother's incarceration. Children of incarcerated mothers experience internalizing (fear, withdrawal, depression, emotional disturbance) and externalizing (anger, fighting, stealing, substance abuse) problems, as well as heightened rates of school failure and eventual criminal activity and incarceration. Research in this area is scarce and often of poor quality. A research agenda which is guided by a transactional, ecological, and developmental model, and which examines children's well-being over the course of the mothers' incarceration is suggested.<p /> 
LA  - 
SN  - 1062-1024
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1023/A:1022990410036
ID  - ref1
ER  -