Lauren Touchet. Cjus301. 17 February 2017. Research Paper/Lit

Lauren Touchet CJUS301 17 February 2017 Research Paper/Lit Review Part I Since mandatory sentencing began in the mid-1980s, the United States prison system has seen a dramatic upswing in incarceration rates (Glaze Maruschak, 2008, p. 1). â€Å"The United States’ increasingly punitive sentencing philosophy has resulted in an overreliance on incarceration, resulting in an incarcerated population that has soared from approximately 340,000 in the early 1970s to nearly 2.3 million today† (Raeder, 2012). â€Å"Parents held in the nation’s prisons—52% of state inmates and 63% of federal inmates—reported having an estimated 1,706,600 minor children, accounting for 2.3% of the U.S. resident population under age 18† (Glaze Maruschak, 2008, p. 1). In†¦show more content†¦Ã¢â‚¬Å"Prisoners earn little while incarcerated and even after release, men with a history of incarceration face structural and social barriers to employment. Many are unable to find stable and well-paying work even long after their release† (Geller et all., 2009). Low-earning parents tend to live in poorer neighborhoods. These neighborhoods often have poorer schools within them which directly affect a child’s academic success. However, researchers agree that adding an incarcerated parent to this equation intensifies the negative effect their children experience with academics. National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health) is a â€Å"school-based longitudinal study of a nationally-representative sample of adolescents in grades 7-12 in the United States in 1994-95. Data have been collected from adolescents, their fellow students, school administrators, parents, siblings, friends, and romantic partners through mult iple data collection components, including four respondent in-home interviews† (Add Health, 2017). The study design included a sample of 80 high schools and 52 middle schools with an unequal probability of selection, ensuring representativeness with regard to region of country, urban city, school size, school type, and ethnicity. The sample has been followed through adolescence and early adulthood (with ongoing data collection). More than 20,000 students participated in the first wave of data between years 1994 and 1995.1 Approximately 15,700