I grew up in a neighborhood where gangs were part of our lives, and some of my friends had relatives, including close family members who were gang members. There were instances where children were separated from their parents for lack of documentation, and others were incarcerated for engaging in criminal behaviors. Some of the children ended up joining these gangs out of desperation after being separated by their parents to fend for their basic needs and to find an identity within the society instead of being homeless. I perceived that these were family tragedies and social issues that needed intervention from the government. However, as I prepared for my Capstone Paper, I began to understand the scope of the issues as social issues, especially parental incarceration and how it affected the children. I have also understood the high rate of recidivism among parents even after serving time in prison. My journey in preparing the Capstone Paper allows me to understand that parental incarceration predisposes children to be social and economic factors that act as risk factors for them to engage in crime leading to their admittance into the criminal justice system. I understand the implications of parental incarceration such as housing insecurity, the uncertainty of getting regular meals, homelessness, and poor performance in academics. Additionally, these children are also predisposed to developing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms and trauma from imprisonment and separation with their parents, which can lead to unpredictable behavior likely to turn violent (Morgan-Mullane, 2018). These perceptions inform on why the children in my neighborhood turned into gang members. Additionally, criminal justice issues create an understanding of how parental incarceration affects children and their families. The criminal justice system provides criminal information publicly, allowing employers and other parties to do screening on people they intend to engage in. As a result, parents with criminal records are limited from getting employment or a business opportunity that could change their families’ lives (Meyers, 2018)). However, the courts can be used in ensuring families are institutionalized despite the incarceration of their parents by upholding the due process and be used as an adversarial system to provide fair and just judgment. Additionally, the provisions of the Federal Sentencing Act on sentencing guidelines can be used with regards to Supreme Court landmark cases that affect families such as United States v. Booker to be used as advisory rather than mandatory while considering how the children are affected (Boudin, 2013). Law enforcement, as a branch of the criminal justice system, is obligated to uphold the code of conduct, protect human rights, provide services, and to enforce the law (Robinson, 2010). I am interested in working with the Immigration, and Customs Enforcement, Department of Homeland Security, and I believe that understanding the social and criminal justice issues is paramount to my service as a law enforcement officer. Conceptualizing how various social and economic issues affect individuals will inform on my approaches and decisions in fulfilling my obligations as a law enforcement officer. For instance, I would understand how aggressive approaches or use of excessive force in detaining suspects, especially in front of children, could affect their lives. Therefore, I believe the implementation of cautious approaches while preserving the dignity of each person in enforcing the law is the true definition of “to protect and to serve.”
References
Boudin, C. (2013). Children of Incarcerated Parents: The Child's Constitutional Right to the Family Relationship. Journal of Criminal Law & Criminology. 101(1), 77-118.
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Meyers, R. (2018). The Impact of Collateral Consequences of Criminal Conviction on Children and Families. In (Eds.) LaLiberte, T., Barry, K. & Walthour, K. (2018). Criminal Justice Involvement of Families in Child Welfare. Center for Advanced Studies in Child Welfare.
Morgan-Mullane, A. (2018). Trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy with children of incarcerated parents. Clinical social work journal , 46(3), 200-209.
Robinson, M. (2010). Assessing Criminal Justice Practice Using Social Justice Theory. Social Justice Research , 23 (1), 77-97. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11211-010-0108-1
