Adolescent Adaptation to Parental Incarceration

This qualitative transcendental phenomenological study considered the lived experience of having a parent or parental figure incarcerated during one's adolescence. The study analyzed 15 in-depth, in-person, semistructured interviews with six participants between the ages of 18 and 29 from the city of Chicago. Textural-structural analysis indicated five separate results: the influence of parental incarceration on the developmental experience, the emotional influence of parental incarceration, the social influence of parental incarceration, the spiritual influence of parental incarceration, and the three key aspects of the experience (truth, the kind of relationship the participant had with the incarcerated parent, and the availability of an attuned subsequent caregiver). The analysis indicated that an adolescent's adaptation to the world after experiencing this phenomenon fell into one of three spheres of adaptation. A number of clinical and social justice implications were identified along with avenues for future research to better understand the phenomenon and how it affects those who experience it.