Chapter 9: Children With an Incarcerated Parent: Child-Centered Play Therapy

Parental incarceration is a significant problem in today’s society (The Sentencing Project, 2009). Children of incarcerated parents are often left with a single parent who has to struggle to make ends meet, or with relatives such as grandparents who themselves may be grappling with considerable personal challenges (i.e., financial concerns, health issues). Children with an incarcerated parent may experience an overwhelming amount of academic, social, and behavioral struggles and may be left with feelings of alienation and abandonment possibly resulting in long term negative outcomes.

George is a well-dressed 7-year-old who is walking down the hallway to his classroom. Mary, a kindergartener happily skipping down the same hallway accidentally bumps into George. He immediately grabs Mary by the arm and shoves her against the wall. George proceeds to scream at Mary that he never wants her to touch him again. The teacher separates the children and tries to calm George down. He is brought to the school counselor who tries to engage George in conversation or at best calm him down. During their conversation, the counselor discovers that George’s father was recently incarcerated.