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In 2019, Dr. Marcus Shaw published a quantitative <\/span>research study<\/span><\/a> that showed, on average, children of incarcerated parents receive lower grades, are less happy in school and, overall, have less educational success. While these statistics showed the result of what was happening, they did not show why.<\/span><\/p>\n So Shaw, an assistant professor of <\/span>criminology<\/span><\/a> at Fresno State, set out to gain more insight. He recently <\/span>had two research studies on parental incarceration published in top academic journals including <\/span>Family Relations<\/span><\/a>, accredited by the National Council for Family Relations.<\/span><\/p>\n In an effort to expand his findings, Shaw interviewed 31 children (now adults) of an incarcerated parent, over the span of three years, about their life experiences and the long-term effects of parental incarceration. He gathered data using<\/span> qualitative research methods and <\/span>found intergenerational impacts of mass incarceration and parental incarceration.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWhen we talk to kids, we don\u2019t know the full impact of the incarceration on their life course,\u201d Shaw said. \u201cIn my study, adults could now reflect on their experiences, and I could then analyze their age at the time the parents were incarcerated and the impact it had on them.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n In one study, he wrote about three recurring themes affecting children of incarcerated parents: financial and emotional strain, residential instability, and the transference of stigma.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n For Shaw, the most shocking theme was transference of stigma \u2013 a child judged for the parent\u2019s incarceration. He found that this affected the individual\u2019s relationships and people viewed them differently. In some extreme cases, these individuals were denied criminal justice employment because of their parent\u2019s record.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThis was shocking because some of these children of incarcerated parents worked so hard to stay away from criminality and to be successful, but, in the end, they still had to answer for someone else\u2019s crime,\u201d Shaw said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n