Understanding pathways to resilience among children of incarcerated parents

Pages: 139-151
Praballa Ashmitha and Narayanan Annalakshmi (Department of Psychology, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu)

The children, whose parents are imprisoned, are vulnerable to psychosocial problems and are at-risk for
psychosocial development due to various personal and environmental reasons during the period of parental
incarceration. The present study aims at understanding the risk and protective factors in the lives of adolescent
children of incarcerated parents. For this purpose, the parents of these children were interviewed. Semi-structured
interviews with 12 male life convicts from Central prison, located in a mid-sized city in South India, who are in
prison for not less than six months were conducted to examine the patterns of resilience among children of these
prisoners. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis. Themes revealed risk and protective factors. The risk factors
were psychological problems of the child, negative family emotional climate, teacher rejection, social isolation and
hostility. The protective factors were compassion, positivity in the family, family cohesion, teacher’s support,
positive interpersonal relationship and social support. The study revealed that parents perceive that the children use
protective factors in order to protect themselves while facing adverse conditions, despite the presence of major risk
factors for healthy psychosocial development.