Children of Incarcerated Parents: Integrating Research Into Best Practices and Policy

This book presents multidimensional knowledge on children of incarcerated parents using Bronfenbrenner's ecological theory as an organizing framework. It examines the extent to which different levels of the environment are supportive (i.e., leading to resilience) and stress-producing (i.e., contributing to risk). The volume explores four levels of the environment - microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, and macrosystem - with specific theories and paradigms woven into the inquiry at each. At the level of child and family, it discusses the factors that influence resilience and risk in children from gestation through young adulthood; at the community level, it addresses risk and resilience in the interactions between children and families and the various systems with which they interact (e.g., child welfare).