|
|
|
|
|
|
|
HELP | |
|
  $9.95 List price:
HARDCOVER, USED
Usually ships in 5 to 7 business days
 available for shipping or prepaid pickup only
More copies of this ISBN:This title in other formats:All Alone in the World: Children of the Incarceratedby Nell Bernstein
Synopses & ReviewsPublisher Comments:An intimate and heartwrenching investigation into the lives of children of imprisoned parents, by an award-winning journalist. I think they shouldn't have took my mama to jail....Give her the opportunity to make up for what she did. Using drugs, she's hurting herself. You take her away from me, now you're hurting me.--Terrence, a fifteen-year-old boy left to fend for himself after his mother was imprisoned for nonviolent drug possession One in ten American children has a parent under criminal justice supervision--incarcerated, on probation, or on parole. One in thirty-three American children--and one in eight African American children--goes to sleep without access to a parent because that parent is in jail. Despite these staggering numbers, the children of prisoners remain largely invisible to society. Following in the tradition of the bestseller Random Family, journalist Nell Bernstein shows, through the deeply moving stories of real families, how the children of the incarcerated are routinely punished for their parents' status: ignored, neglected, stigmatized, and endangered, with minimal effort made to help them cope. Topics range from children's experiences at the time of their parent's arrest, to laws and policies that force even low-level offenders to forfeit their parental rights, to alternative sanctions that take into account prisoners' status as mothers and fathers. All Alone in the World defines a crucial aspect of criminal justice and, in doing so, illuminates a critical new realm of human rights. Review:"Children of prisoners: who even thinks about them? Journalist Bernstein puts a face on this population with staggering statistics (2.4 million children have a parent in jail, and as many as half of all boys whose parents do time will wind up behind bars themselves) and personal stories of children like Susana, who has embraced her father only once in her life, and Carl, who told the jailhouse Santa that all he wanted for Christmas was for his mother to come home. Parents and children speak about the trauma of prison visits, the expensive phone calls that cut off without warning and the questions from children (What do you tell your friends? Are you to blame?) and parents (Would your child be better off without you?). Bernstein takes on the system as well: because of mandatory sentencing, judges must impose life imprisonment without parole, regardless of circumstances; a convicted felon, once released, has no access to student or small-business loans, public assistance or housing; a grandmother fears applying for aid because she must give up her grandchildren to the foster care system for evaluation and may never get them back. Well researched and smoothly written, Bernstein's book pumps up awareness of the problems, provides a checklist for what needs to be done and also cites organizations like the Osborne Society that provide parenting and literacy classes, counseling and support. The message is clear : taking family connections into account 'holds particular promise for restoring a social fabric rent by both crime and punishment.'" Publishers Weekly (Starred Review) (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.) Synopsis:One in ten American children has a parent under criminal justice supervision--incarcerated, on probation, or on parole. One in thirty-three American children-and one in eight African American children goes to sleep without access to a parent because that parent is in jail. Despite these staggering numbers, the children of prisoners remain largely invisible to society. Following in the tradition of the bestseller Random Family, journalist Nell Bernstein shows, through the deeply moving stories of real families, how the children of the incarcerated are routinely punished for their parents' status: ignored, neglected, stigmatized, and endangered, with minimal effort made to help them cope. Topic range from children's experiences at the time of their parent's arrest, to laws and policies that force even low-level offenders to forfeit their parental rights, to alternative sanctions that take into account prisoners' status as mothers and fathers. All Alone in the World defines a crucial aspect of criminal justice and, in doing, so, illuminates a critical new realm of human rights. What Our Readers Are SayingAdd a comment for a chance to win!
Average customer rating based on 2 comments: | ||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||
Don't Miss
