Few studies have considered whether the consequences associated with parental incarceration extend beyond the children who experience the event, and whether the influence of parental incarceration var

The gap

Consensus across the literature

Supporting evidence — 3 representative gaps

• Care Arrangements for Children Exposed to Maternal Incarceration: Evidence From Wisconsin (2026) · doi

  Background Family systems theory suggests that maternal incarceration may drastically alter family life for marginalized children, but little is known about how children's care arrangements change during and after maternal incarceration versus other forms of criminal legal system (CLS) involvement.

  Keywords: family maternal incarceration children background systems theory suggests drastically alter life marginalized little known care
• Representations of Attachment Relationships in Children of Incarcerated Mothers (2005) · doi

  Results highlight need for support in families affected by maternal imprisonment, especially efforts to promote stable, continuous placements for children, in addition to underscoring the importance of longitudinal research with this growing but understudied group.

  Keywords: highlight need support families affected maternal imprisonment especially efforts promote stable continuous placements children addition
• Multilevel Effects of Parental Incarceration on Adult Children’s Neighborhood Disadvantage (2019) · doi

  Few studies have considered whether the consequences associated with parental incarceration extend beyond the children who experience the event, and whether the influence of parental incarceration varies by the context in which it occurs.

  Keywords: whether parental incarceration considered consequences associated extend beyond children experience event influence varies context occurs