IPR Seminar: Dr. Evelyn Patterson, Sociology, Vanderbilt University

 

The experiences of men, particularly African American, have been an ever-expanding area in criminological and criminal justice literature. African American women remain a large mystery. In this paper, we examined how familial incarceration affects psychological distress in the lives of African American women and men. Unlike many other studies on the familial costs of incarceration, our use of the National Survey of American Life allowed us to examine the heterogeneity of social circumstances within the lives of never incarcerated African Americans. Specifically, we looked at the intersection of parenthood and relationship status among never incarcerated African American women; such differences in social roles potentially influence their vulnerability to depressive symptoms associated with familial incarceration. Our findings make apparent that the story does not end with incarceration being a common experience for African American men, nor does it end with familial incarceration harming the lives of women who are parents of children whose father is incarcerated. Rather, African Americans are a heterogeneous population. The social roles they embody shape how they experience interactions with the judicial system, which contributes to a variety of symbolic and lived experiences for African American families.