Family member in prison

Abstract

The importance of secure family background is known widely, but the rights and needs of children who miss one of their parents away in prison for a shorter or a longer time has not been emphasised, although it affects quite a lot of children. The parent’s absence has a negative effect on the child; the severances of psychological scars affected by this phenomenon depends on lot of factors, for example the age of the child, the duration of the penalty and where the child would stay while the parent serves the prison sentence. If we are unable to deal with the situation properly we may cause severe damages in the child’s psychological development on the long run. In this essay I describe two psychological theories about the importance of attachment and finally I try to summarize what we collectively as society can do for these affected children.