The Emotional Experience of Parental Incarceration from the African-American Adolescent Perspective

The presented article reviews a research study on the lived experience of having a parent or parental figure incarcerated during one's adolescence. The research study was conducted to fill a gap in the literature about the adolescent experience of this phenomenon. This qualitative research study used transcendental phenomenology to access the experience of six urban residing African-American participants through 15 in-depth semi-structured interviews. The study used purposive sampling in which participants self-selected to participate in the study. The study yielded findings in five major areas: developmental impact of parental incarceration, emotional impact of parental incarceration, social impact of parental incarceration, spiritual impact of parental incarceration, and levels of adaptation. This article focuses specifically on one of the findings, the emotional experience of parental incarceration. Analogous to Kubler-Ross's research on the stages of grief, this study found that the participants experienced a distinct set of emotions connected to the phenomenon of parental incarceration. By understanding this distinct set of emotions, child welfare providers as well as social service providers will have a better insight into their patients' emotional experiences and how these influence behaviors. More research is needed on the adolescent experience of parental incarceration before this phenomenon is fully understood.