Impact of Parental Incarceration in Iceland
(2023) SOCM04 20231Sociology
Department of Sociology
- Abstract
- Children of prisoners have increasingly been touted as the silent victims of incarceration due
to the emotional and mental distress that often occurs following a parent's incarceration.
Unfortunately, these children have not been met with much academic interest in Iceland. This
thesis thus seeks to provide insight into how parental incarceration affects children in Iceland.
Here, the characteristics of parental incarceration in Icelandic will be demonstrated, as well as
how stigmatisation is managed and what changes and additions would improve the support
and facilities offered to children with incarcerated parents. Nine interviews were conducted
with parents whose children have experienced parental incarceration. Of these, eight
... (More) - Children of prisoners have increasingly been touted as the silent victims of incarceration due
to the emotional and mental distress that often occurs following a parent's incarceration.
Unfortunately, these children have not been met with much academic interest in Iceland. This
thesis thus seeks to provide insight into how parental incarceration affects children in Iceland.
Here, the characteristics of parental incarceration in Icelandic will be demonstrated, as well as
how stigmatisation is managed and what changes and additions would improve the support
and facilities offered to children with incarcerated parents. Nine interviews were conducted
with parents whose children have experienced parental incarceration. Of these, eight
interviews were conducted with imprisoned parents and an additional interview was
conducted with a family member with children affected by parental incarceration. Drawing
upon the theoretical framework of critical criminology, stigmatisation, and the concept of the
value of children, this thesis concludes that the Icelandic government has not fulfilled its role
adequately in supporting children with incarcerated parents to decrease the adverse effects of
parental incarceration. The topic of parental incarceration and its impact on children seems to
be increasing in academic popularity. Numerous papers suggest that incarceration policies
should specifically address the effects on children. The findings of this study reaffirm those
assertions (Less) - Popular Abstract
- In this thesis, I interviewed nine individuals who all had in common that they are parents of
children who experience parental incarceration. Parental incarceration has gathered more and
more attention recently as academics have highlighted how important it is to support these
children due to these difficult circumstances. This study was based on a report I wrote for the
Ombudsman of Children in Iceland, as most of the data collected for the report was used to
write this thesis. However, they differ significantly as this thesis is grounded in the theoretical
framework of critical criminology, the theory of stigmatisation, and the concept of the worth
of children. These theories were used to demonstrate the characteristics of... (More) - In this thesis, I interviewed nine individuals who all had in common that they are parents of
children who experience parental incarceration. Parental incarceration has gathered more and
more attention recently as academics have highlighted how important it is to support these
children due to these difficult circumstances. This study was based on a report I wrote for the
Ombudsman of Children in Iceland, as most of the data collected for the report was used to
write this thesis. However, they differ significantly as this thesis is grounded in the theoretical
framework of critical criminology, the theory of stigmatisation, and the concept of the worth
of children. These theories were used to demonstrate the characteristics of parental
incarceration in Iceland, how stigma is experienced and managed and how the experiences of
these parents might prove helpful in improving the conditions and support given to children
who have parents in prison.
Looking at the conditions and support from the Nordic countries regarding parental
incarceration, it is evident that Iceland is behind on the issue. Although the media has recently
written about the issue, studies have yet to be written about parental incarceration in Iceland
and how it affects children. Thus, this essay aims to demonstrate these conditions and support,
gaining a deeper understanding of what is being done and how to improve the situation
effectively. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9135847
- author
- Gudjónsson, Daníel LU
- supervisor
- organization
- alternative title
- Conditions and Support for Children with Incarcerated Parents
- course
- SOCM04 20231
- year
- 2023
- type
- H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
- subject
- language
- English
- id
- 9135847
- date added to LUP
- 2023-09-01 15:02:14
- date last changed
- 2023-09-01 15:02:14
@misc{9135847,
abstract = {{Children of prisoners have increasingly been touted as the silent victims of incarceration due
to the emotional and mental distress that often occurs following a parent's incarceration.
Unfortunately, these children have not been met with much academic interest in Iceland. This
thesis thus seeks to provide insight into how parental incarceration affects children in Iceland.
Here, the characteristics of parental incarceration in Icelandic will be demonstrated, as well as
how stigmatisation is managed and what changes and additions would improve the support
and facilities offered to children with incarcerated parents. Nine interviews were conducted
with parents whose children have experienced parental incarceration. Of these, eight
interviews were conducted with imprisoned parents and an additional interview was
conducted with a family member with children affected by parental incarceration. Drawing
upon the theoretical framework of critical criminology, stigmatisation, and the concept of the
value of children, this thesis concludes that the Icelandic government has not fulfilled its role
adequately in supporting children with incarcerated parents to decrease the adverse effects of
parental incarceration. The topic of parental incarceration and its impact on children seems to
be increasing in academic popularity. Numerous papers suggest that incarceration policies
should specifically address the effects on children. The findings of this study reaffirm those
assertions}},
author = {{Gudjónsson, Daníel}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Impact of Parental Incarceration in Iceland}},
year = {{2023}},
}