1. Making things worse? Caregiver imprisonment and its impact on child health, education and well-being in Uganda
Dr Michelle Butler Dr Cyprian Misinde
30 August 2018
Strengthening

2. Caregiver Imprisonment
Studies have raised concerns about how imprisonment of caregivers can negatively impact children and their outcomes later in life (e.g. Flynn & Eriksson, 2015; Hagan & Foster, 2012, Murray & Farrington, 2005, 2008a, 2008b).
However, impact can very depending on child characteristics, family dynamics, social service provision and criminal justice policies and practices (see Murray et al., 2007; Besemer et al., 2011; Hutton, 2016, Hayes et al., 2016).

3. Present Study
This study seeks to enhance our understanding of caregiver imprisonment by:
Addressing a gap in our knowledge regarding how caregiver imprisonment may affect children in a low income country.
Examining what impact (if any) caregiver imprisonment may have on child well-being, health, education and poverty.
Explore how caregiver imprisonment may affect the achievement of sustainable development goals.

4. Methodology
Research design: Mixed methods consisting of questionnaires and interviews.
Sample:
Procedure: Non-imprisoned adult caregivers and children completed questionnaires and interviews about how their health, education, well-being and experience of poverty changed pre and post the imprisonment of their caregiver.
Analysis: Paired sample t-tests and Wilcoxon signed-rank tests were used to analyse the questionnaire data. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the interview data and the findings were triangulated.
Questionnaires
Interviews
Adults 88 61
Children 27 15
Total
115 76

5. Findings: Child Well-being
Children reported experiencing more restlessness headaches, stomach-aches, sickness, anger, worry, fidgeting, squirming, loneliness, fear, being accused of cheating or lying, fears, unhappiness, as well as emotional, relational, concentration and behavioural problems after the imprisonment of their caregiver compared to before their imprisonment.
This was confirmed in the interview findings:
“We worry a lot, we no longer eat well like we used to, even at school. He would at times help pay for our school fees but now we don’t have someone to do that for us.…I am not happy…The one, who was taking care of us, is now not here…we children…cannot afford to take care of ourselves.” (Participant 70 – Child)

6. Findings: Child Health
Children explained that they experienced more headaches, stomach-aches and sickness due to the lack of money to buy food, medication, as well as the additional chores they had to undertake:
“Life has changed. It was daddy who would buy us food, pay fees for my siblings and pay the rent. But now, we have no one to lean on. […] I have ulcers.” (Participant 72 – Child)
This was confirmed in the interviews with adults, with the majority explaining they had insufficient funds to pay for food, travel to healthcare facilities or buy medication after imprisonment.

7. Findings: Child Health
Following caregiver imprisonment, children and adults reported eating significantly less:
Meals per day
Meat
Fish
Eggs
Fresh fruit and vegetables
Adults also reported that their households were significantly more likely to experience food shortages and hunger in the 12mths following caregiver imprisonment compared to before imprisonment.

8. Findings: Child Education
Children and adults reported a significant worsening of children’s grades and school attendance following caregiver imprisonment due to:
Lack of finances for fees and scholarly materials
Hunger negatively affecting concentration
Reduced well-being hindering performance
Leaving school early for paid work
““No, they don’t go to school. […] I don’t have the capacity, I am not working and I don’t have any income so I cannot afford school fees and other scholastic materials. Their father used to provide for them but he is now not here so my hands are tied.” (Participant 17 – Adult)

9. Findings: Child poverty
Experiences of poverty for children worsened significantly following the imprisonment of their caregiver.
Roughly 66% of children were deprived on 2,3 or 4 poverty indicators before imprisonment while after imprisonment roughly 66% were deprived on 6 or more poverty indicators.
Findings indicate that caregiver imprisonment was exacerbating inequality, early school leaving, insecure employment and intergenerational cycles of poverty and hunger.

10. Conclusions
For the majority, caregiver imprisonment negatively affected child well-being, health, education and poverty.
It also affected the sustainable development goals of:
No poverty
Zero hunger
Good health and well-being
Quality education
Decent work and economic growth
Reduced inequalities
Peace, justice and strong institutions
Life on land
More attention needs to be paid to how criminal justice policies can affect the achievement of sustainable development goals.

11. References
Besemer, S., van der Geest, V., Murray, J., Bijleveld, C. C. J. H., & Farrington, D. P. (2011) The Relationship between Parental Imprisonment and Offspring Offending in England and the Netherlands. British Journal of Criminology, 51(2),
Flynn, C., & Eriksson, A. (2015) Children of Prisoners. Annandale: The Federation Press.
Hagan, J., & Foster, H. (2012) Intergenerational Educational Effects of Mass Imprisonment in America. Sociology of Education, 85(3),
Hayes, D. Butler, M., Devaney, J. & Percy, A. (2018) Allowing Imprisoned Fathers to Parent: Maximising the Potential Benefits of Prison Based Parenting Programmes, Child Care in Practice, 24(2),
Hutton, M. (2016) Visiting Time. Probation Journal, 63(3),
Murray, J. & Farrington, D. (2005) Parental Imprisonment: Effects on Boys’ Antisocial Behaviour and Delinquency through The Life-Course, Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 46(12):
Murray, J. & Farrington, D. (2008a) Parental Imprisonment: Long-Lasting Effects on Boys’ Internalizing Problems Through The Life-Course, Development and Psychopathology, 20:
Murray, J. & Farrington, D. (2008b) The Effects of Parental Imprisonment on Children, Crime and Justice, 37(1):
Murray, J., Janson, C., & Farrington, D. P. (2007) Crime in Adult Offspring of Prisoners - A Cross-National Comparison of Two Longitudinal Samples. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 34(1),

12. Questions? Contact: michelle.butler@qub.ac.uk cmisinde@gmail.com
Full report available at request.