Family Functionality Under Conditions of Incarceration: A Systemic Perspective

Introduction: Family member leaving to serve a prison sentence is a significant stressor that requires a forced reorganisation of family roles and responsibilities. Incarceration greatly affects the family functioning and dynamics, given that the convicted family members are someone's parents, spouses or children. This change can lead to dysfunctionality, because the remaining members face not only organisational, but also emotional, social and economic difficulties. Objective: The objective of this paper is to show and summarize the results of research dealing with the impact of incarceration on the family functionality, with special emphasis on the system perspective. Methods: When reviewing the available literature in accordance with the selected keywords, the service of the Consortium of Serbian Libraries for Unified Acquisition was used, as well as the Google Scholar and Research Gate search engines. Results: Children of parents deprived of freedom are a vulnerable category. Research shows that there is an increased likelihood that a number of symptoms and dysfunctions will appear, such as: behavioural problems and hyperactivity, use of psychoactive substances, deteriorating school performance, internalized problems, greater disobedience, difficulties in establishing and maintaining relationships with peers, but also housing instability, poverty and physical diseases. Also, it is established that incarceration leads to significant changes in partner relationships, and that it is associated with an increased likelihood of divorce, depression and worsening satisfaction with life of the partner who remains within the family. Families have more frequent difficulties in organising family life, as well as diminished socioeconomic stability. Conclusion: Taking into account the complexity of the impact of the incarceration process on both the individual and the family as a whole, it may be concluded that families which experience incarceration face numerous emotional, relational, social and organisational problems and challenges. That is why, in penal rehabilitation, special attention must be paid to the maintenance, preservation and improvement of family functioning, so that the effects of institutional resocialization are not only maintained, but also generalized after leaving the institution.