Children and Adolescents With Incarcerated Parents

Parental incarceration has a significant impact on children's and adolescents' lives,including emotional and mental well-being, which can carry to their adulthood. Althoughparental incarceration has been researched, the lived experiences and mental health needsof Latino children and adolescents of incarcerated parents have not been explored. Thepurpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to understand the recollections ofyoung Latino adults about their lived experiences and mental health needs as children andadolescents with incarcerated parents. Data were collected through semistructuredparticipant interviews with open-ended questions. Participants were 10 Latino youngadults who had experienced having at least one biological parent incarcerated when theywere younger. Data were analyzed using the interpretative phenomenological analysismethod to gain a better understanding of individuals' personal experiences and how theyinterpret them in the context of their social and personal lives. Analysis of the datarevealed the following themes: (a) social and cultural adjustment, (b) mental healthstruggles, and (c) behavioral struggles. The research findings help to fill a gap in theliterature regarding the experiences and mental health needs specific to Latino childrenand adolescents with an incarcerated parent. These results may have implications forpositive social change by increasing awareness and improving the policies for growth anddevelopment that help to improve support services for Latino young people.