Attachment, parental incarceration and possibilities for intervention: an overview.
Incarceration of parents and pregnant women, which is quite common in the United States, creates problems for the incarcerated individuals' children. Here we summarize attachment research related to this issue and explain how attachment-related interventions might reduce both the negative effects on children of having their parents incarcerated and the likelihood of future crime and incarceration on the part of both the adults and their children. We consider the intergenerational transmission of attachment insecurity, the practice of having an incarcerated adult's parent take custody of the children, and the multitude of problems associated with incarcerated adults' attachment insecurity (including perpetrated and received abuse, drug and alcohol problems, a history of educational and employment difficulties, and inadequate models of parenting). We discuss validated attachment intervention programs that might be used with incarcerated parents, as well as barriers to implementing such programs.
Makariev
Drika Weller
DW
University of California, Davis, CA, USA.
Shaver
Phillip R
PR
D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D006801:Humans; D016901:Intergenerational Relations; D008960:Models, Psychological; D009769:Object Attachment; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D011329:Prisoners / Q000523:psychology*; D011330:Prisons; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000523:psychology*