Date Thesis Awarded
5-2009
Access Type
Honors Thesis -- Access Restricted On-Campus Only
Degree Name
Bachelors of Arts (BA)
Department
Psychology
Advisor
Danielle H. Dallaire
Committee Members
Janice Zeman
Salvatore Saporito
Abstract
Having a history of parental incarceration is associated with an increased risk for numerous challenges. The present study examined several factors of peer relations among children with incarcerated parents and their peers to determine if problematic peer relations play a role in the difficulties these children experience. Participants were 77 elementary school children and their caregivers from a high-crime, high-poverty neighborhood, over half of whom had experienced parental incarceration. Caregivers assessed their child's social behavior and problem behaviors, and, during the course of an interview, children's helping behavior was assessed through a behavioral measure. Children with incarcerated parents displayed significantly more aggressive behavior than their peers and, according to their caregivers, they also tended to have more aggressive social behavior and to engage in greater relational aggression. Because aggression is an important indicator of problematic peer relations, it is very likely that the increased difficulties that children with incarcerated parents face are partially related to additional challenges with their peer relations.
Recommended Citation
Hampton, Ashley Sierra, "Peer Relations of Children with Incarcerated Parents" (2009). Undergraduate Honors Theses. William & Mary. Paper 341.
https://scholarworks.wm.edu/honorstheses/341
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.
Comments
Thesis is part of Honors ETD pilot project, 2008-2013. Migrated from Dspace in 2016.