Date Awarded

1997

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)

Department

Education

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether African-American adolescent high school students who have (or have had) at least one parent incarcerated differed on several variables as compared to African-American adolescent high school students who lived with both parents and those who did not have an incarcerated parent but who lived with only one parent.;John Marshall High School in Richmond, Virginia was the institution studied for this project. John Marshall was chosen for several reasons: the student researcher had access to this population and it was believed that a majority of the students at this institution came from homes where at least one parent was (or had been) incarcerated.;Each student was administered the Children's Depression Inventory (CDI), the Multidimensional Self Concept Scale (MSCS), and the Family Environment Scale (FES). In addition, data from students' cumulative folders were analyzed: grade point averages, attendance data, standardized test scores, and disciplinary referrals (if any). Students also answered questions on a 14-item researcher-generated questionnaire. The questions, Likert in nature, assessed students' feelings and perceptions about their family and school environments, as well as their parent relationships.;It was hypothesized that (1) there would be a difference between academic performance, daily absenteeism rate to school, classroom behavior, and attitudes towards school of African-American high school students who have (or have had) at least one incarcerated parent as measured by students' transcripts, standardized test data, school attendance records, and teacher-generated disciplinary referrals and (2) there would be a difference on the variables of depression, self concept, and family environment among African-American adolescent high school students who have (or have had) at least one incarcerated parent and (a) African-American adolescent high school students who lived with both parents and (b) African-American adolescent high school students who did not have an incarcerated parent but who lived with one parent as measured by the Children's Depression Inventory, the Multidimensional Self Concept Scale, and the Family Environment Scale.;The results of the study indicate that there were no differences in students who lived with both parents, in students who did not have an incarcerated parent but who lived with only one parent, and those who have (or have had) at least one parent incarcerated on the measures of depression, self concept, and family environment.;Further study is needed to determine the effects of parent incarceration on African-American school children.

DOI

https://dx.doi.org/doi:10.25774/w4-f1hg-zk22

Rights

© The Author

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