The involved professionals’ experience of the relationship between parental incarceration and the child’s mental health

Abstract

The incidence of parental incarceration could negatively impact children in different ways. The aim of this study was to gain insight of the potential link between children’s mental health outcomes and their parent’s imprisonment, through the experience of professionals involved in Malta. This study employed Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis and the data was compiled through semi-structured interviews conducted with four professionals from different sectors involving children of incarcerated parents. The main findings suggested that children of incarcerated parents are at an increased risk of developing mental health problems due to experiences they encountered in addition to the incarceration of their parents and other factors. Apart from that, children of incarcerated parents often exhibit internalizing and externalizing behaviours, PTSD, anti-social behaviours, aggression, feelings of shame and stigma. Despite this, findings from this study suggest that these psychological problems can be minimized through support from other family members or caregivers, school and professional intervention.