Research
CFCN is a leader in the research on families and children affected by incarceration in Canada. Look through the items below and in our resources and journals to find what you need.
Forgotten Victims:
The Mental Health and Well-Being of Families Affected by Crime and Incarceration in Canada
A couple of quotes from families about the impact of crime on their families:
"It’s been huge. I feel that I’m like Alice in Wonderland, I’ve fallen down into a place where I don’t know about, where the words are all different, where I don’t know what’s true, what’s not true, who to trust, who to not trust."
"The impact...it’s been devastating. It’s consumed our whole family, our hearts, our family unit. You feel helpless because your family member’s actions are out of your control. Yes, it’s been very hard on the family unit but we’ve all stuck together."
"It’s very, very, difficult. Just because someone does something wrong, you don’t stop loving them. You can’t make yourself stop loving a person, no matter what they do, whether it’s good or whether it’s bad. So, as their journey escalates, you’re taken along on their journey too. And no matter how bad it is or how good it is, you are part of it. So it affects every facet of your life. It affects you in every way."
To the left is the full final report.
Thank you to all who participated!
A summary of this groundbreaking research can be found in CFCN's Family and Corrections Journal Vol. 18 No. 1.
Family Victims
Having a loved one incarcerated can be a hardship. Being the direct victim of the crime for which they are serving their sentence is even more challenging. The family is a victim in many of our most serious crimes in Canada including murder, rape, child abuse, domestic violence and elder abuse. There is a focus on ‘stranger’ or ‘acquaintance’ crime while 'direct family-victims' are an unspoken reality.
Thanks to Public Safety Canada funding, Canadian Families and Corrections Network has been able to complete some groundbreaking research on the needs, characteristics and experiences of family-victims.
Read the Research Summary of the project completed by CFCN and Dr. Stacey Hannem, Criminology Professor at Wilfrid Laurier University in our Journal or the Final Evaluation below. Research Findings begin on Page 17 and Recommendations on Page 40.
A summary of this groundbreaking research can be found in CFCN's Family and Corrections Journal Vol. 18 No. 1.
Canadian Families and Corrections Network knows from its work with families that the offender is much closer to home than anyone likes to talk about. CFCN also takes a wider view, that even if a family member is not the victim, the family is still harmed by the criminal behavior of the offender and its consequences on the family.
CFCN was interested in the kind of services that the Correctional Service of Canada's Victim Services could offer to family-victims. David Molzhan and Christina Guest agreed to discuss this topic.
Incarceration could provide the opportunity to conduct crime-prevention interventions with all members of the offender family to reduce the risk that children will fall into crime.
The objective of this study by Lloyd Withers and Jean Folsom is to analyze the family situation of a sample of federal offenders in Canada and to examine the way of life, before their incarceration, of the fathers and the frequency of their Contact with their children during the period of incarceration.
Incarcerated Fathers: A Descriptive Analysis
CFCN Journals
There is also valuable research on our Journal tab. Check out:
Families and Corrections Journal Vol 16 No 1 - Research results of our National Family Orientation Project for new offenders and their families at each federal intake unit across Canada.
Families and Corrections Journal Vol 15 No 1 - "Family-based reintegration" - a research report that analyses the Family Liaison Worker (FLW) model of reintegration support for women and their families and the Family Group Decision Making for Reintegration (FGDMR) model of reintegration support for men and their families.