An Introduction and Brief Review of the Impacts of Incarceration on the African American Family

Supervision within the criminal justice system has operated to drive a wedge between Black men and their children. The rate at which African American men are involved in the criminal justice system whether through incarceration, probation, or parole is at near epidemic proportions, at the same time that effort to keep ties between these men and their families is nearly non-existent within this same system. African American families are harmed by this in countless ways, from the psychological, physical and material experienced by the men themselves, to losses felt by their mates, children, and extended family members.