The Vicious Cycle of Incarceration

My son-in-law says that incarceration creates a vicious cycle: 

The prime correlate of incarceration is whether a young person grew up in a family with a father present or absent. 

When a father is absent, the youth is more likely by far to wind up in prison. 

Gangs supply some of the paternal functions, but in a sick way. 

When fathers are incarcerated, they leave whatever family structure exists. Incarcerated dads are not in a very good moral position to tell their children to obey the law.  

The sons and daughters of the incarcerated are then more likely to be incarcerated themselves, because they grew up in a family without a father present.

The vicious cycle continues ...

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