Parental incarceration and school psychology in the United States: a scoping review of publications and survey of faculty members

Abstract

Millions of children and youth in the United States have had a parent incarcerated at some point in their life, with important consequences for their short- and long-term outcomes. Children with incarcerated parents are at increased risk compared to their peers for poor physical and mental health, academic, social, and behavioral outcomes both in childhood and in adulthood. Yet resilience processes are also common, with malleable school-based protective factors such as developmental assets, school connectedness, and mental health services associated with positive developmental outcomes for students with incarcerated parents. As primary service providers of mental and behavioral health services in schools, school psychologists are positioned to provide supportive services to students with incarcerated parents in the school setting. However, meeting this aim requires the proper knowledge and training to do so, and it is currently unknown whether school psychology research and graduate preparation has included discussion of parental incarceration. As such, the purpose of this dissertation was to (a) examine the extent and scope of discussion around parental incarceration in school psychology peer-reviewed and practitioner-oriented literature, and (b) survey school psychology faculty members about their inclusion of mass incarceration and parental incarceration within their courses as well as assess their knowledge, attitudes, and preparation on parental incarceration. Results from the first study indicated a lack of engagement with parental incarceration as a primary topic within school psychology literature throughout 20 years of scholarship. Although the second study indicated there was more engagement with teaching about parental incarceration by school psychology faculty members and generally positive attitudes about inclusion of this topic in the field, faculty members also perceived their knowledge about parental incarceration to be limited. Both studies point to a need for improvements in awareness and knowledge about parental incarceration within school psychology research and graduate education, with subsequent implications for school psychology practice.