Other Family Members of Inmates 331role in his children's lives, and more information needs to be learned about what
kind of an effect his absence creates.
Other Family Members of Inmates
Introduction
The influx of incarcerated individuals in recent years has had an impact on millions
of families. For every one person who is incarcerated, many others are affected,
some of whom include spouses, parents, and children. Oftentimes family mem-
bers of inmates suffer consequences ranging from financial hardship to emotional
trauma. Spouses of inmates are often faced with loneliness, alteration of their role
in the family, and financial crises to name a few. Similarly, children of prisoners
frequently experience emotional and behavioral problems. Despite the large num-
ber of individuals affected by incarceration, there are limited resources available to
assist family members of inmates. This is perhaps due to the fact that the needs of
inmates' families are rarely considered by police officers, the courts, correctional
institutions, and social service agencies (Hostetter & Jinnah, 1993). Furthermore,
there is an inadequate amount of attention given to the families of prisoners by
researchers (B. E. Carlson & Cervera, 1992; Kiser, 1991). While there remains a
dearth of resources for family members, recently pioneering efforts have been initi-
ated aimed at addressing this need. Current programs have been established which
focus on familial support groups as well as on enhancing the visitation experience
for family members of inmates.
Nancy and Mike have been married tor 9 years and have four children under the age
of 6. Four months ago Mike was incarcerated as the result of a conviction for drug-related
charges. Because of Mike's drug addiction, the family has had difficulty paying the bills
for the past 3 years. However, despite his addiction, Mike was able to maintain steady
employment in construction.
After Mike's incarceration, the family began to deteriorate. Nancy never finished
high school and married Mike when she was 17 years old. Thus, slje did not have the
necessary skills to secure employment. Nancy and Mike's children had never spent any
significant amount of time away from home since Nancy had always stayed there to care
for them. When the home utilities were turned off, Nancy started working at two local
fast food restaurants to ensure that the bills were paid. Nancy's new role in the family
meant that the four children spent every day and some nights away from home. Two
of the children started to display aggressive behavior and one child started to withdraw
from everyone.
After 9 months of incarceration, Mike has only seen his children once. Nancy works
18 hours a day in order to pay the bills and simply does not have time to visit her
husband, much less take the children to the prison. Nancy has sought assistance from
social services, but has been told that there is nothing they can do to help her and that
she seems to be managing fine.