The Familial Impact of Imprisonment: An Exploratory Study Examining how Families of Prisoners manage their identity.

The familial impact of imprisonment- An exploratory study examining how families of prisoners manage their identity. The impact of imprisonment upon family members was first examined by Morris (1965) and although nearly half a century has lapsed since the initial publication there remains a distinct paucity of UK research in respect to what is known about the identity transitions families of prisoner’s face. This research explores how families of prisoners serving an indeterminate prison sentence for committing a serious crime construct and manage their identity. The unique feature of this research is that it seeks to capture a variety of familial perspectives on living with the consequences of having a member of the family imprisoned for committing a serious stigmatising crime resulting in an indeterminate sentence. It explores what factors influence how different family members all related to a prisoner manage their individual, familial and extra familial identity. More specifically, the research analyses the factors that influence the individual and familial appraisal of stigma, shame and guilt and how families manage their identity within and outside of their immediate and extended social network. The research adopts a phenomenological paradigm utilising a combined method of semi structured interview and photo or artefact elicitation. The preliminary findings of this research are usefully framed and analysed using literature on identity, family stress, shame, and loss theory