When someone is charged with a crime, convicted or jailed, the impact often reaches the children left behind. Beyond the stigma of having a family member involved in the criminal justice system, it can also create tangible hardships for children – such as unstable housing, lost income or disrupted education that may follow them the rest of their lives. Now, research led by Northeastern University assistant teaching law professor Naoka Carey shows just how widespread it is for a child in America to have a relative who comes in contact with this system. The study found that over a 22-year period, one in seven U.S. children had a family member who was criminally charged within the previous five years.
Carey said the results came with some surprises. “It has almost become a normative experience,” she said. “The U.S. is a huge outlier in the number of people we put through the criminal system.” The existing literature on children’s exposure to the criminal justice system typically focuses on parents who are jailed or imprisoned, which has been found to be a social determinant of health – or a health factor related to a person’s environment or socioeconomic status – linked to behavioral concerns, unmet healthcare needs and more, the study said. But this research sought to evaluate those exposures beyond incarceration, like charges and convictions, and to encompass other household members – including siblings, aunts, uncles and grandparents – as extended families may contribute to the household in various ways.
