Needs of Children With Incarcerated Parents in Their Own Voice

Assessing children’s needs through the capability approach

Although our study was based on a phenomenological view of life experience, we decided to compare the authentic interpretations of children with the capabilities approach (CA).

The results of our study are presented here as a source of informed practice for social workers, and we hope that they will also be perceived and especially used in this way. We first sought to understand children’s needs through their own interpretations and then compared the results with the capability approach (Sen 1999; Nussbaum, 2000). This approach is very comprehensive and provides the basis for a holistic solution that would promote the well-being of this group. It is an appropriate framework in the field of social work that does not point fingers but strives for socially just solutions (Vysloužilová and Navrátil, 2019).

The key idea of the capability approach is to secure more just living conditions allowing people to improve their quality of life. The capability approach is the foundation of our research. As formulated by Amartya Sen (1992, 1993, 1999) and further developed by many authors, most significantly Martha Nussbaum (2000, 2007), CA has quickly gained respect in the field of measurement and assessment of children’s well-being. One reason for its widespread application is its sensitivity to the social, cultural, economic, and political context of well-being (Ben-Arieh, 2010; McAuley et al., 2010).

Because the term “capability” refers fundamentally to the “concept of freedom,” reflecting the range of possibilities that one has in making life choices (Palovičová, 2011: 837), it is especially important to “… Watch the relationship between the space of social possibilities and the space of individual needs” (Otto and Ziegler, 2008: 12). We find it imperative to investigate the individual needs of children of incarcerated parents because international studies show that social opportunities decrease significantly in many areas of their lives as a result of the incarceration of a parent (Scharff-Smith and Gampell, 2011) and negatively affect their well-being (Bessemer et al., 2019; Minson, 2019).

Assessing the well-being of children of incarcerated parents in the Czech Republic is a bit complicated due to the unclear definition of the well-being concept (Kornel, 2013), which has led to a narrow understanding of children’s well-being in practice (Sandin, 2014). It is understood in the Czech context as assuring care and adequate guidance, nutrition, and shelter (Navrátilová, 2018; Punová et al., 2020). We therefore chose to address these questions using CA, which offers tools for the measuring and interpretation of children’s needs in the overall context of their well-being.

Many authors treat the topic of measuring well-being using CA (Trani et al., 2011; Robeyns, 2005; Biggeri et al., 2006, 2011; Biggeri and Karkara, 2014). One of the most widely used instruments is a set of 10 potentialities by Nussbaum (2000). Biggeri et al. (2006) developed this concept while focusing on investigating child well-being and expanded this list into the final 14 capabilities. These are: life and physical health; love and care; psychological well-being; corporal integrity and safety; social relationships; participation; education; freedom from economic and non-economic exploitation; shelter and environment; free-time activities; respect; religious faith and identity; time autonomy; and mobility. Our research used these capabilities as they indicate which needs must be fulfilled in order for children to thrive (Biggeri et al., 2006).

The research question

Our research seeks to document children’s perceptions of their needs in cases where one or both parents have been incarcerated. Using CA, we examine not only the basic nature of the needs but also assess the fulfillment of needs and whether fulfillment is even possible. We then paint a picture of the overall well-being of children of incarcerated parents. Our results are part of a larger study assessing the impact of parental incarceration on children via seven focus groups attempting to answer the following question: “What are the needs of children whose parent has left the household due to incarceration?”

Sample selection

The research participants were children aged 7–14 years old, who had at least one parent in jail at the time and had previously lived with that parent in the same household. These were the two main criteria for selecting our sample. The research was carried out during a weeklong summer camp, organized for these children by a nonprofit organization called Prison Fellowship International, which has been helping children and families with parents in jail. Participating children came from throughout the country.

Research ethics

The caretakers in charge of the children following the parent’s incarceration were informed about the children’s participation in the research. All consented in writing to the children’s participation in the research. Informal consent was also asked of the participating children prior to forming the focus groups. They were given an explanation of why they were asked to take part in the research. The caretakers expressed interest in the research, especially the hope that it would produce new information to highlight the difficult situation for children and families with an incarcerated parent. Within the research, great emphasis was placed on adherence to ethical principles. All researchers followed the “Code of Ethics for Academic and Professional Staff of MU” and the research was approved by the Masaryk University Ethics Committee on 29 April 2020 (ethical approval number: EKV-2019-085).

Data collection

The children were first interviewed individually. After conducting all the individual interviews and their preliminary analysis, we proceeded to the implementation of focus groups. Because children in this age group differ greatly in their perceptions and modes of expression, we decided to divide them into focus groups based on age and sex. The appropriateness of this choice was confirmed by the pilot FG findings. As a result, seven focus groups were created, four female and three male. The female groups comprised a total of 28 girls and the male groups totaled 24 boys (52 in total). The maximum age difference within each FG was three years. However, the majority of children within each FG were not more than two years apart.

The data collection method was designed in such a way as to gather in-depth information from our youth participants about their personal experiences. The questions and method of collection were designed by the research team in cooperation with professionals in the field of the long-term care of families and children of incarcerated parents. The data collection was carried out by Masaryk University researchers with the help of Prison Fellowship International workers, who were present during the FG meetings. Their presence was crucial; the children knew them and thus the workers were able to ensure an atmosphere of safety and trust while exploring this difficult life situation. They did not actively take part in the talks with the children, however.

Focus groups

Data collection took place in seven focus groups. They were designed to create a safe space where the participants could share their life experiences and talk about their needs after their parent or parents left for prison. The information should help us to better understand the overall impact of parental incarceration on children. Within the focus groups, we translated our original research question—“What are the needs of children, whose parents leave the household due to incarceration?”—into a language the children could understand and asked: “What do children need when their mom or dad leave for prison?”

The question was formulated in a projective way so as not to evoke difficult memories. Thanks to the projective method, the children could open up to talk about what they need under the circumstances. Very quickly they also began to reflect their own experiences. We believe that the projective style of questioning gave the children a sense of security and the feeling that they were not alone in this difficult situation, and that there are other children living a similar experience. The quotations below from particular child respondents are cited according to focus group. In other words, we refer to the general characteristics of the FG (e.g., girls aged 12–14 years old), even though the answers were given by different respondents within the FG. The answers from different respondents within one FG are not attributed individually.

The FGs were recorded with parental and children’s consent and then transcribed. The children received a small treat for having participated. Each FG session lasted about 60 min.

Data analysis

The data collection method was designed so as to gather in-depth information about the participants’ personal experiences. The researchers were aided by professionals in long-term care for families and children of incarcerated parents in formulating the questions and designing the data collection method.

The data analysis was inspired by the interpretative phenomenological analysis approach, which focuses on personal lived experience and the ways in which people ascribe meaning to such experience (Smith et al., 2022; Smith and Osborn, 2003). Prior to the analysis, we reflected upon our preconceptions about the needs of children of incarcerated parents (Smith and Osborn, 2003).

During pre-analysis, the transcripts of the FG discussions were read, we made notes about the expressed children’s needs, and we highlighted specific quotations. The notes were classified according to Smith et al. (2022) as descriptive, conceptual, or linguistic. During this pre-analysis, the texts from all FGs were read several times and all notes and observations were recorded regardless of relevance. In the next phase, we began to systematically distinguish themes and divide them into categories. At this point, we worked mainly with our own notes and when necessary returned to the original transcripts. In the next phase, we looked for relationships between the themes, identifying theme clusters within individual transcripts and across all the transcripts collectively. Finally, we created categories and attached to them representative quotations from the FG sessions.

Research limits

We believe the fact that this topic is difficult for children may have imposed limits on our ability to conduct the research. Speaking about needs related to incarceration of a parent may have evoked troubling memories of situations connected with traumatic experiences. This influenced both individual interviews and the FG sessions; we had to be sensitive and could not pursue some lines of questioning when the discussion became too difficult for the children. This limit was, however, compensated for by the presence Prison Fellowship International staff, who were familiar to the children and gave them support during moments of recalling difficult memories.

Research results

In our study, we expanded the central capabilities as defined by the research team of Biggeri et al. (2006) by including the needs expressed by our child respondents that are related specifically to the situation of a parent being in jail. We categorize our empirical findings according to Biggeri et al. (2006) and then proceed to identify new capabilities.

When asked “What do children need when their mom or dad leaves for prison?” the children stated in the first place needs related to love and care from adults: “We need love. (…) for example from the people that we love a lot, from the rest of the family and so on, maybe from our partner or something like that” (girl 11–13 years old). Some statements made it clear that lack of support may cause very serious consequences for the child: “So that somebody helps you, when you feel bad, because you feel so bad that you may start hurting yourself or even start dying inside and so on” (girl 11–13 years old). In relation to their incarcerated parents, children spoke of their need for personal contact and relationships. Personal contact was needed, “to see him,” “to see how he looks,” via personal visits in the prison, as well as indirectly through letters and telephone calls. This contact is important for children because it builds the relationship and gives them joy. Such contact allows children to fulfill another need—to have information about the incarcerated parent. A girl of 11–13 years old says, “To hear his voice (…) so that they know that he exists, (….) that he is alive”. In addition to such contact, children referred to the need for physical closeness, to be able to hug the incarcerated parent. Children also expressed their need to feel attention from their incarcerated parent, for example, in the form of gifts or Christmas/Birthday cards. Here is an example of such a wish: “To have a keepsake from him. Like a letter. So that I don’t forget” (girl 11–13 years old). It is necessary to note that not all of the children, however, wanted to be in contact with their incarcerated parent. Where the relationship with the parent was unsatisfying, the need for contact changed significantly. In fact, some children expressed a need to end all contact with the parent, as illustrated by the following statement: “(…) so I wrote him a goodbye letter that I don’t want to see him ever again. Never in my life” (girl 11–13 years old).

In respect to care from others, it emerged that children need comforting for the strong emotions that arise when a parent goes to jail. Three girls (9–11 years old) described their sadness: “I kept crying,” “Every day, every evening,” “I am crying now, even just when I remember it.” A boy (10–11 years old) described his emotions: “I was so sad, I will tell you openly, I was hitting the wall everywhere, I even punched the glass out of the door (…)”. Immediate support and help were needed, especially when the children were present when the parent was arrested: “I was in such a shock that I didn’t even know where to go at that moment (…) but the worst was the fact that they took my mom away from me just like that, I didn’t even see her properly that day, I was sleeping on the floor and then I just see her all blurry that moment and then an hour later my sister comes and tells me that she was taken into custody” (girl 12–14 years old). Children often noted the need for psychological support (comfort, cheering up, humor, hopefulness) from their nuclear and extended families (most commonly mentioned are mothers and grandparents), and also from friends or a partner. A few children mentioned receiving professional help from a psychologist.

Apart from love and care, children spoke most frequently about the capability of freedom from economic and non-economic exploitation. They spoke mostly about basic needs—“money” in first place—specifically money for “food,” “drink,” “clothes,” “toys.” The children’s comments about such needs were probably based on their own experiences of lack of finances, as one described: “… first, before dad left, he stole our money,… so we were completely without money, we had nothing” (boy 12–14 years old). It was not exceptional that some mentioned suffering from hunger: “We didn’t have money, we didn’t have anything for food” (boy 7–10 years old). In some cases, the situation was made even harder by lack of care from the parent: “(…) but my mom didn’t have money for that, I was hungry, but she used the money for drugs and once I didn’t have anything in my stomach for 3 days…” (girl 12–14 years old). Comments from our child respondents show that they were able to eat thanks to the help of their relatives: “I started to live a new life and I never felt hungry again since I moved to my grandmother’s” (girl 12–14 years old). Needs issuing from this capability are linked to yet another capability, that of shelter and environment. Children spoke of the importance of paying rent, followed by the need to have a place “to live”, to “have a home”.

Through the capability of social relationships, children expressed their need to share with others (to talk it out, to confide in someone, to talk). As one girl (12–14 years old) stated: “And if I wanted to see one of my friends, and she could not be with me, so I needed to find another closer person and find help and so make more of these closer friends”

The children also spoke about needs connected to the capability of psychological well-being. They described the need for their own strength “to make it”, to maintain one’s happiness and joy, and they speak of the need to hope for the return of the incarcerated parent, the courage to move ahead by themselves, to be alone, to have the courage to confide in someone. Interestingly, these needs were expressed mainly by girls: “The courage to stand on one’s feet and protect oneself” (12–14 years old), and similarly: “the belief that the person will once return from the jail” (11–13 years old).

In the realm of the corporal integrity and safety capability, the children noted a whole list of needs. Often the need to be safe was mentioned. Descriptions of domestic violence prior to incarceration were quite common and point to another motive for this need—to be protected from physical violence. These boys testify to the domestic violence they saw: “…when I was seven, I saw my father beating my mother” (boy 12–14 years old). “He pounded my mother against the sofa so hard the sofa broke.” (boy 10–11 years old).

A similarly difficult situation was described by a girl: “She found my dad beforehand and after they put him in prison, he is there for the fifth time I think, so she found someone else but he was beating her badly, she had a broken rib and a cracked spine” (girl 11–13 years old). Another girl describes sexual violence against her sibling: “He was beating my mother and raped my sister” (girl 11–13 years old). Other children reported being victims of domestic violence, for example: “So when I was little and my joints were growing, he took me by my legs, was beating me and threw me into my crib and said: Be quiet and sleep!” (boy 10–11 years old).

The children also speak of the need to trust in oneself, the need to have self-confidence, to not underestimate oneself and to not judge oneself: “Not to hurt oneself, not to do harmful things to oneself because of this” (girl 11–13 years old). These needs are related to the capability of respect towards self.

In relation to the religious faith and identity capability, children pointed out their need to deal with their difficult situation with the help of forces that are above them, from which they sought solace. Some children spoke of their need for a relationship with God. In their words, a relationship with God gives them strength and a positive outlook on life. This relationship replaces other missing relationships and allows the child to share experiences with someone else: “It was for the first time that I took it as if nothing was happening and then when I was praying, He was helping me” (girl 12–14 years old). And another: “Children also need to pray, when they don’t have anybody else to talk to” (girl 11–13 years old).

In reaction to the parental incarceration, many children experience the need for freedom of movement, which can be included in the capability of mobility. It is understood as freedom to go wherever they please as counterpoint to the parent that does not have that ability: “To go outside so they also would not be as in a prison” (girl 11–13 years old). Children also mentioned the free-time activities capability, which they linked with the need to relax, to have interests outside of home, the need to play and have fun, to go outside: “Or just to let the steam off for example here at this camp” (girl 11–13 years old). Other capabilities according to Biggeri et al. (2006) – life and physical health, education, participation and time autonomy – were mentioned by children only tangentially.

During the research, children expressed other needs arising from specific conditions resulting from their parents’ incarceration. On the basis of their stated needs we inferred new capabilities:

The pet capability – many children spoke of the support they got from their pets (e.g., dog, cat, and parakeet). One of the youngest participants, a girl who was placed in the care of her grandparents after both of her parents were been incarcerated, explained this. After her beloved grandfather passed away, and the girl had to live through another loss, she drew strength from her new dog: “(…) and when granddad died, I got Charlie (dog), because I kept crying so grandma bought him for me so I would not cry” (girl 7–9 years old).

The return of the parent from jail capability was also frequently mentioned in children’s statements. Children stated the wish for the return of their incarcerated parent, that the family be reunited. During the FGs, one often heard the desire that “he come home,” “that s/he returns,” “that we could be together.” One of the youngest participants said, “Well, I am very nosy and I keep asking her every day, all the time, when she’ll be free and when is the next visit” (girl 7–9 years old). Similarly, a boy of 10–11 years old said, “I would like my father to come back and that he be happy and healthy and that all of our family is healthy”.

We named the last capability as not being judged for the acts of one’s parents. Their fear, based in the personal experience, is linked to another need, that for trust and acceptance from those in their social environment. The fear of rejection and stigmatization even evoked a need to keep the information about the incarcerated parent a secret. One boy explains: “I don’t want anyone to know about it. (…) everybody would laugh at me” (boy 10–11 years old). Similarly, a girl (12–14 years old) noted: “That’s why I don’t talk about it, that my parents are in prison, because then they condemn us because of that” The children expressed the desire to be treated with dignity and respect, without prejudice and stigmatization due to the parental incarceration.