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Washington State Institute for Public Policy
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Parenting programs (during incarceration)

Adult Criminal Justice
  Literature review updated April 2025.

The goals of parenting programs are to help incarcerated parents acquire skills to increase the efficacy of parenting, increase parental confidence and satisfaction, and reduce stress associated with parenting. These programs teach parents about child development, positive interaction, behavior management and discipline, and communication. Parents are also supported with strategies to communicate effectively with their children during separation due to incarceration.

All programs in this analysis include didactic instruction delivered in groups of 8-12 participants. Some programs also include role play with classmates or instructor-supported play therapy during child visitation. Programs typically meet weekly, and vary in duration from four to ten weeks. The weighted average number of contact hours is 16. Participation is voluntary and available to incarcerated mothers or fathers who have at least one child, typically ranging from age 2 to 12.

Individuals in comparison groups did not receive parenting classes.

Studies in this meta-analysis did not report recidivism as an outcome measure; however, they did report established self-report measures of parental stress, as well as parenting knowledge, beliefs, and attitudes. We combined measures of parenting knowledge, beliefs, and attitudes into a broad “positive parenting beliefs” outcome for each study. A positive effect indicates improvement, on average, in one or more of these self-report parenting measures.

Evaluations of two brand name prison-based parent training programs—Parenting Inside Out (PIO) and Parent Enrichment Training (PET)—are reported in separate analyses.
 
ALL
META-ANALYSIS
CITATIONS

Meta-analysis is a statistical method to combine the results from separate studies on a program, policy, or topic to estimate its effect on an outcome. WSIPP systematically evaluates all credible evaluations we can locate on each topic. The outcomes measured are the program impacts measured in the research literature (for example, impacts on crime or educational attainment). Treatment N represents the total number of individuals or units in the treatment group across the included studies.

An effect size (ES) is a standard metric that summarizes the degree to which a program or policy affects a measured outcome. If the effect size is positive, the outcome increases. If the effect size is negative, the outcome decreases. See Estimating Program Effects Using Effect Sizes for additional information on how we estimate effect sizes.

The effect size may be adjusted from the unadjusted effect size estimated in the meta-analysis. Historically, WSIPP adjusted effect sizes to some programs based on the methodological characteristics of the study. For programs reviewed in 2024 or later, we do not make additional adjustments, and we use the unadjusted effect size whenever we run a benefit-cost analysis.

Research shows the magnitude of effects may change over time. For those effect sizes, we estimate outcome-based adjustments, which we apply between the first time ES is estimated and the second time ES is estimated. More details about these adjustments can be found in our Technical Documentation.

Meta-Analysis of Program Effects
Outcomes measured No. of effect sizes Treatment N Effect sizes (ES) and standard errors (SE) Unadjusted effect size (random effects model)
ES SE Age ES p-value
Parental stress
Stress reported by a parent, typically measured on a validated scale such as the Parental Stress Index. 
 33 2 76 -0.351 0.194 n/a -0.351 0.071
Positive parenting beliefs
Self-reported knowledge, beliefs and attitudes that support effective parenting (e.g., child development knowledge, parenting satisfaction)
 33 4 82 0.621 0.214 n/a 0.621 0.004

Citations Used in the Meta-Analysis

Harris, Z.L., & Landreth, G.L. (1997). Filial therapy with incarcerated mothers: A five week model. International Journal of Play Therapy, 6(2), 53-73.

Landreth, G.L., & Lobaugh, A.F. (1998). Filial therapy with incarcerated fathers: Effects on parental acceptance of child, parental stress, and child adjustment. Journal of Counseling and Development, 76(2), 157-165.

Loper, A.B., & Tuerk, E.H. (2011). Improving the emotional adjustment and communication patterns of incarcerated mothers: Effectiveness of a prison parenting intervention. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 20, 89-101.

Norman, Å., & Enebrink, P. (2023). Effects of a parental support intervention for parents in prison on child-parent relationship and criminal attitude—The for Our Children’s Sake pragmatic controlled study. PLoS One, 18(3).

Wilczak, G.L., & Markstrom, C.A. (1999). The effects of parent education on parental locus of control and Satisfaction of incarcerated fathers. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 43(1), 90-102.