After four decades of mass incarceration in the U.S., the disproportionate number of black men in prisons has contributed to an epidemic of black women struggling to support fragile families. Yet the literature is scant on how African American women are affected by the imprisonment of their partners. Drawing on case studies and firsthand accounts, the author brings needed perspective to the political, economic and psychological challenges they face--including the experience of symbolic imprisonment or "serving time on the outside."

In March 2017, researchers, advocates and NGOs from twelve countries came together in Rotorua, New Zealand, for the first conference of the International Coalition for the children of incarcerated parents. The Coalition had been formed the previous year to recognise that similar issues faced the children of prisoners all over the world. From the first arrest until release from prison, the system is stacked against the child. Justice systems are all about punishing individuals, and are, as one conference speaker noted, ‘child blind’. The papers in this collection cover many of the themes in the wider literature on the children of prisoners. Advocacy themes include moving towards child-friendly prison systems, using mass incarceration to influence wider social change, the effects of pre-trial detention on families, the particular issues in Hawaii, and how arrest and detention procedures harm children. A set of papers reflect contemporary research and analysis on the children of prisoners. One paper sets out ‘12 guiding principles’ for working with children and families of the incarcerated. Others look at how babies and young children react to parental imprisonment, as well as children who are resilient in the face of it. Two papers consider women: one on mothers involuntarily committed to psychiatric hospital and the other examining the difficulties in maintaining family ties when a mother is sent to prison. Another contribution looks at an initiative between university and community set up to ‘expand knowledge and inspire change’ for the children of prisoners. One paper examines the difficult issue of supporting families where a parent has been convicted of a sexual offence. Also discussed in this volume are the Tyro programme that works to break the cycles of self-destruction for the children of prisoners and case studies of prison staff ‘making a difference’ in child and family visiting.

This handbook brings together the international research focussing on prisoners’ families and the impact of imprisonment on them. Under-researched and under-theorised in the realm of scholarship on imprisonment, this handbook encompasses a broad range of original, interdisciplinary and cross-national research. This volume includes the experiences of those from countries often unrepresented in the prisoner’s families’ literature such as Russia, Australia, Israel and Canada. This broad coverage allows readers to consider how prisoners’ families are affected by imprisonment in countries embracing very different penal philosophies; ranging from the hyper-incarceration being experienced in the USA to the less punitive, more welfare-orientated practices under Scandinavian ‘exceptionalism’. Chapters are contributed by scholars from numerous and diverse disciplines ranging from law, nursing, criminology, psychology, human geography, and education studies. Furthermore, contributions span various methodological and epistemological approaches with important contributions from NGOs working in this area at a national and supranational level. The Palgrave Handbook of Prison and the Family makes a significant contribution to knowledge about who prisoners’ families are and what this status means in practice. It also recognises the autonomy and value of prisoners’ families as a research subject in their own right.

Maintaining Black Marriage: Individual, Interpersonal, and Contextual Dynamics moves beyond the usual demographics in the study of Black marriage to focus on the communication that sustains it. Using original data and secondary research, Marianne Dainton provides the story of Black marriage success and the contexts and communication that contribute to that success. A central feature of this book is the inclusion of Black voices; that is, in addition to original quantitative research on the topic, qualitative data draws on the experiences and opinions of a group of married Black women and married Black men in order to augment, explain, challenge, and reflect the scholarly literature.

Written by a team of experts that includes doctors, nurses, social workers, psychologists, and chemists, this handbook focuses on the diseases that pose the greatest threat to African American women today. Topics include African American women and heart disease, sickle cell, breast cancer, diabetes, HIV and AIDS, as well as mental illness. Social issues that affect health are also examined, including poverty, homelessness, stress, racism, sexism, and treatment disparities. Two thirds of the chapters are all-new with fresh topics and information, and the remaining chapters have been completely updated.

The criminal justice system has driven a wedge between black men and their children. African American men are involved in the criminal justice system, whether through incarceration, probation, or parole, at near epidemic levels. At the same time, the criminal justice system has made little or no institutional efforts to maintain or support continuing relationships between these men and their families. Consequently, African American families are harmed by this in countless ways, from the psychological, physical, and material suffering experienced by the men themselves, to losses felt by their mates, children, and extended family members. The volume opens with an introduction and brief review by R. Robin Miller, Sandra Lee Browning, and Lisa M. Spruance, outlining the impacts of incarceration on the African American family. Brad Tripp, explores changes in family relationships and the identity of incarcerated African American fathers. Mary Balthazar and Lula King discuss the loss of the protective effect of marital and nonmarital relationships and its impact on incarcerated African American men, and the implications for African American men and those who work with them in the helping professions. Theresa Clark explores the relationship between visits by family and friends and the nature of inmate behavior. In a research note, Olga Grinstead, Bonnie Faigeles, Carrie Bancroft, and Barry Zack investigate the actual costs families incur to maintain contact with family members, be it emotional, social, or financial. Patricia E. O'Connor uses data from sociolinguistic interviews of male inmates from a maximum security prison to study how some of these men manage to continue to fulfill the fatherhood role long-distance. In a concluding chapter, Sandra Lee Browning, Robin Miller, and Lisa Spruance focus on actions of the criminal justice system that undermine the black family, on reasons that black male inmate fathers are studied so rarely, and discuss the role restorative justice may play. This insightful volume fills a void in the literature on the role of African American men in the functioning of families. It will be of interest to students of African American studies, social workers, and policy makers.

An insightful collection of essays for black women written by black women scholars on today's issues. Titles include "Bridging the Gap: From the Older to the Younger Woman", "When Your Mate Is Absent: Handling Your Emotions", "Robbing Peter to Pay Paul: Breaking the Debt Cycle", and more.

The Dark Side of Close Relationships II is a completely new and up-to-date version of the original volume published in 1998, featuring new topics and authors. The volume showcases cutting-edge work on important topics by prominent scholars in multiple disciplines. It sheds light on the paradoxical, dialectical, and mystifying facets of human interaction, not merely to elucidate dysfunctional relationship phenomena, but to help readers explore and understand it in relation to a broader understanding about relationships. As previous Dark Side investigations have revealed, negative or dysfunctional outcomes can occur in relationships even though positive and functional ones are expected, and at the same time, positive silver linings are often found in some dark relational clouds. Such nuanced approaches are needed to better account for the complexity of close relationships. A unique and provocative collection, this volume will appeal to relationship researchers in communication, social psychology, family studies, and sociology.

The story of the rise of prisons and development of prison systems in the United States has been studied extensively in scholarship, but the experiences of female inmates in these institutions have not received the same attention. Historically, women incarcerated in prison, jails, and reformatories accounted for a small number of inmates across the United States. Early on, they were often held in prisons alongside men and faced neglect, exploitation, and poor living conditions. Various attempts to reform them, ranging from moral instruction and education to domestic training, faced opposition at times from state officials, prison employees, and even male prison reformers. Due to the consistent small populations and relative neglect the women often faced, their experiences in prison have been understudied. This collection of essays seeks to recapture the perspective on women’s prison experience from a range of viewpoints. This edited collection will explore the challenges women faced as inmates, their efforts to exert agency or control over their lives and bodies, how issues of race and social class influenced experiences, and how their experiences differed from that of male inmates. Contributions extend from the early nineteenth century into the twenty-first century to provide an opportunity to examine change over time with regards to female imprisonment. Furthermore, the chapters examine numerous geographic regions, allowing for readers to analyze how place and environment shapes the inmate experience.

African American Psychology: From Africa to America, Fourth Edition provides comprehensive coverage of the field of African American psychology. Authors Faye Z. Belgrave and Kevin W. Allison skillfully convey the integration of African and American influences on the psychology of African Americans using a consistent theme throughout the text—the idea that understanding the psychology of African Americans is closely linked to understanding what is happening in the institutional systems in the United States. The Fourth Edition reflects notable advances and important developments in the field over the last several years, and includes evidence-based practices for improving the overall well-being of African American communities. New to the Fourth Edition Coverage of current issues affecting African Americans and causing changes in the social-political environment include the Black Lives Matter movement, racial trauma, and more. Content from blogs has been added to chapter-opening cover stories to reflect the more modern ways news and information are obtained. More coverage of literature and research on Blacks throughout the diaspora, especially in Africa, provide historical context and documents heterogeneity among African Americans in the United States. Expanded coverage of topics as a result of recent research includes LGBTQ individuals, African American fathers, colorism, intersectionality, electronic cigarettes, social media, and more.