Abstract:
Past studies have indicated having a father arrested was a significant predictor of
higher delinquency rates for both males and females. Other studies focusing on the
concentration of crime within families have drawn similar results, highlighting fathers
coming into contact with the criminal justice system is a significant predictor of future
criminality. Still, few studies focus on the collateral impact of mass incarceration upon
children as an issue of process and decision making. Furthermore, the nature of this issue,
whether bias-oriented or the result of impractical policies, has yet to be explored. The
current study focuses on the pre-sentencing investigation component of the criminal
justice system, namely, the influence of probation officer recommendations for
sanctioning. For the purposes of this study “children of incarcerated parents” is a
misnomer and should be understand as children of incarcerated parents regardless of
stipulated age in the offense scenarios. Moreover, this following study is concerned with
whether family criminality influences the sentencing recommendations among juvenile
and adult probation officers nationwide. This is a perception based study which examines
the professional opinions of probation officers about the importance of family criminality
in formulating sentencing recommendations. The findings extends and affirms the
findings of Rodriguez, Smith, & Zatz (2009) revealing a consistent trend of black male
defendants being more likely to receive more months recommended for sentencing
recommendations for incarceration. Findings also indicate history of family criminality
has a significant impact on sentencing recommendations for incarceration. Implications
of the research findings and what these findings mean in relation to the process of
probation officer decision making is discussed.
