Newswise — Knowing someone jailed on federal drug charges led a Virginia Tech researchers to study how incarceration affects family members.
Joyce Arditti said that she has has “long been preoccupied with issues of equality, fairness, and social justice.
“I initially became interested in the criminal justice system when a close friend of mine was involved in the federal system for a drug charge in 1996,” said Arditti. “My friend was sentenced and convicted and I ultimately visited him at the facility where he was held many times.”
As a result of her time there, Arditti would talk to the other families that were also waiting to visit. “I began to see how relationships formed among visitors and everyone had a story and set of experiences with the criminal justice system that were profoundly influential in shaping their lives and the developmental trajectory of any children who were visiting,” she said. “What struck me the most was the sense of stigma and shame that all visitors seemed to share with the inmate as well as the sense of anger at the system.
“I realized I had entered into a hidden pocket of experience due to my insider status as a visitor and that these stories of families impacted by incarceration needed to be told. I have never witnessed so much pain, vulnerability, and also strength, as I had amongst these families who were also doing time with the incarcerated person.”
In the United States, more than 1.7 million children have a parent in prison. These children experience very real disadvantages when compared with their peers, including social exclusion, lower levels of educational success, and even a higher likelihood of their own future incarceration.
Arditti's research has led to a recently published book, "Parental Incarceration and the Family." In addition, the National Council on Family Relations named her a Fellow in the organization.
Passionate about addressing the needs of underserved families, Arditti interfaces with community and state agencies that provide services to at-risk individuals and families.
She has disseminated her findings to federal and state policymakers, and presented research on two occasions to the Western Region Probation Unit. She has engaged in outreach with Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Virginia and conducted two trainings that highlight the issue of child trauma and ways to work with families with a parent incarcerated. Arditti has also presented internationally in Asia and Europe on maternal distress and parental incarceration to audiences composed of both academics and practitioners. Her outreach efforts were recognized in 2007 when she received the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences Excellence in Outreach Award.
Arditti served as the editor for Family Relations: Interdisciplinary Journal of Applied Family Studies for five years. At Virginia Tech, Arditti has served on numerous theses and dissertation committees and led student groups to Mexico and Columbia on education abroad opportunities.
Arditti earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of Georgia, her master’s from the University Connecticut, and her doctorate from the University of North Carolina-Greensboro.
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