Causes and Consequences of Parent-Child Separations: Pathways to Resilience
The 28th Annual Symposium on Family Issues focuses on circumstances of parent-child separation that have become increasingly evident in the social-political-economic context of the 21st century, namely parental incarceration, migration and deportation, and military deployment. In sessions addressing these three broad domains of parent-child separation, speakers will consider the societal factors that have given rise to increasing numbers of children and youth who are experiencing separation and the implications of separation for their well-being. Special emphasis will be placed on factors, such as family and community resources and supports, that promote youth and family well-being in the face of separation, and on the processes through which these and other protective factors give rise to positive functioning in youth and their families. Speakers also will highlight the implications of their research for evidence-based programs and policies that foster youth and family resilience.
The Family Symposium was virtual.
Book Citation
![Book Cover for Parent-child separation: Causes, Consequences, and Pathways to Resilience.](https://management.ssri.psu.edu/sites/management/files/2022-01/Symp2020BookCover_0.jpeg)
Glick, J. E., King, V., & McHale, S. M. (Eds.). (2022). Parent-child separation: Causes, Consequences, and Pathways to Resilience. Springer.
Book Access Information
The book can be purchased in hardcover or as an ebook from Springer. Individual chapters can also be purchased. This title is included in Springer’s MyCopy Service which is available only through university libraries that subscribe to the service. MyCopy allows the purchase of a digitally printed softcover edition for $24.99.
For Penn State affiliates: The book is available through the PSU library’s subscription to SpringerLink. You can access the ebook here. See the option to purchase a MyCopy Softcover edition for $24.99 at this link in the box on the right.
Monday, October 26
Session 1: Parental/Familial Migration and Deportation
Families around the world are impacted by migration. Some migrate together in search of better opportunities and safer environments. Others are separated, sometimes for years, as individual family members move away. Reunification of these separated families is challenged by mismatched labor markets and immigration policies that make moving across borders expensive or dangerous. Migrant families may also be separated through deportation efforts that remove undocumented migrants from their children and family members who have documented status or are citizens of their destination countries. This session will focus on understanding the impacts of these separations on parent-child relationships, children’s development, and family functioning as migration involves more and more families globally.
- Catalina Amuedo-Dorantes, Professor of Economics, University of California, Merced
- Jodi Berger Cardoso, Associate Professor of Social Work, Graduate College of Social Work, University of Houston; Kalina Brabeck, Professor, Counseling, Educational Leadership and School Psychology Department, Rhode Island College
- Joanna Dreby, Associate Professor of Sociology and Latin American, Caribbean and U.S. Latino Studies, University at Albany, State University of New York
Tuesday, October 27
Session 2: Parental Military Deployment
Launched in 2001, the Global War on Terrorism is the longest war in U.S. history. With this war have come changes in the composition of the U.S. military force: Whereas in prior eras, the military was comprised largely of young single men without dependents who were drafted into service, today, more than half of the women and men in the nation’s all volunteer military force have children. And the duration of the current conflict in combination with the smaller overall size of the military has meant that deployments to combat and other regions of the globe have been longer and more frequent than before, meaning that large numbers of children are experiencing multiple and extended periods of parental separation. Speakers in this session will address the implications of parents’ military deployment for their children, including factors and processes that increase and mitigate risks for child adjustment, and programs and policies that best support military families with children.
- Shelley M. MacDermid Wadsworth, Professor, Human Development and Family Studies, Director, Military Family Research Institute, Purdue University
- John A. Fairbank, Professor and Co-Director, UCLA-Duke University National Center for Child Traumatic Stress, Duke University School of Medicine, and Director, Veterans Affairs Mid-Atlantic Mental Illness Research, Education and Clinical Center
- Abigal Gewirtz, Professor and Director, Institute of Translational Research in Children's Mental Health, University of Minnesota
Presider: Daniel Perkins, Principal Scientist, Penn State Clearinghouse for Military Family Readiness
Session 3: Parental Incarceration
The sharp increase in incarceration over the past several decades has led to unprecedented numbers of children experiencing parental incarceration. Although fathers are much more likely to be incarcerated than mothers, the number of children with incarcerated mothers has also risen rapidly. This session will examine the factors behind increasing incarceration rates and the implications for family functioning and the well-being of children and families. Attention will also be given to protective factors or resilience processes that may buffer children from some of the potential negative consequences of parental incarceration.
- Julie Poehlmann-Tynan, Dorothy A. O'Brien Professor of Human Ecology, Professor of Human Development & Family Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison
- Kristin Turney, Associate Professor of Sociology, University of California, Irvine
- Jennifer E. Copp, Assistant Professor, College of Criminology and Criminal Justice, Florida State University
Symposium Sponsors
The Symposium on Family Issues is sponsored annually by The Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (R13 HD048150) along with Penn State's Population Research Institute and Social Science Research Institute.
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