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A Research and Intervention Agenda for Children with Incarcerated Parents and Their Families

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Handbook on Children with Incarcerated Parents

Abstract

We had two primary goals when we embarked on assembling this second edition. First, we aimed to summarize and synthesize recent research on children with incarcerated parents and their families that have been conducted across a variety of disciplines, including promising intervention approaches, for a range of audiences. And second, we sought to stimulate high quality, collaborative, interdisciplinary research that will generate information needed by families, practitioners and policymakers to prevent the development of problems and promote the health and well-being of the children with incarcerated parents and their families and communities. With these goals in mind, in this concluding chapter we tie together and elaborate upon the suggestions for research and intervention that have emerged in the preceding chapters. We present an agenda for future research around three conceptual issues: (1) the importance of infusing a social justice perspective that recognizes the importance of and attempts to ameliorate racial and economic disparities when investigating or intervening on the effects of mass incarceration on children and families, (2) the importance of adopting a developmental perspective in research and intervention with children with incarcerated parents, and (3) the need for interdisciplinary scholarship and intervention focusing on resilience processes not only in individuals but also in families. We suggest approaches to various challenges that arise in the areas of research, practice, and policy when working with this population that must be faced in future studies and applied work. We end by highlighting the importance of interdisciplinary collaborations for moving the field forward.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Human Development and Family Studies, School of Human Ecology, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Madison, WI, USA

    Julie Poehlmann-Tynan

  2. Family Translational Research Group, Department of Cariology and Comprehensive Care, College of Dentistry, New York University, New York, NY, USA

    J. Mark Eddy

Authors
  1. Julie Poehlmann-Tynan
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  2. J. Mark Eddy
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Correspondence to Julie Poehlmann-Tynan .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Family Translational Research Group, New York University, New York, NY, USA

    J. Mark Eddy

  2. Human Development & Family Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA

    Julie Poehlmann-Tynan

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Poehlmann-Tynan, J., Eddy, J.M. (2019). A Research and Intervention Agenda for Children with Incarcerated Parents and Their Families. In: Eddy, J., Poehlmann-Tynan, J. (eds) Handbook on Children with Incarcerated Parents. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-16707-3_24

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