The image of a child looking down at the camera, with a crooked face and a bitter smile, accompanied by a text that tells the story of the child’s innocence and the pity of their circumstances, has become an inseparable part of civil and political activities that protest against the situation of a prisoner or their execution. Activists who share images of imprisoned children have a benevolent intention to show that the person in question also has a private life, and this part of their life has been affected by government pressures and the sentence imposed on them, which also affects their family and children.

The subject of this note is the effects of using images of children on an individual child who has a parent in prison, compared to the potential impact on the children of individuals who are imprisoned for ordinary crimes and the children of those who are imprisoned for political and religious reasons. Along with the public display of images of a child whose parent has been imprisoned or executed, the child themselves is also subject to public judgment. In the case of children whose parents are imprisoned or charged with political or religious crimes, this public judgment is often accompanied by labels that are considered socially acceptable. The child does not have the freedom to choose these labels and may not have the ability to reject or refuse them. As a result, they are subjected to a judgment that may not align with their own characteristics. However, in the case of children whose parents are socially condemned, such as for addiction or drug trafficking, the public judgment of the child and their family can be extremely negative. Simply being labeled as the child of a drug

When a child is faced with social rejection, there is a possibility of decreased self-esteem, isolation, and withdrawal, and generally, damage to the child’s ability to establish social connections. The child is unable to distinguish between their parents’ behavior and their responsibility towards it, and may even take on the responsibility for their behavior. This can be exacerbated by our own behavior and speech. Instead of trying to help the child understand and accept their feelings of discomfort and intense sadness, on one hand, and separating themselves from the situation (the parents’ distance due to their own behavior) and not personalizing it on the other hand, we put them in a position of pity, making them feel guilty for what happened and leaving them alone. But when a child is judged with seemingly positive social labels such as “freedom-loving, fighter, truth-seeker,” the most important thing is to ignore their needs in one of the most difficult situations they are in.

In general, it can be said that a child who is faced with the imprisonment or execution of their father or mother needs to be able to understand their own feelings. Children, and even many adults, when faced with emotional pressures, are not easily able to recognize their own feelings and differentiate them from each other. For example, a child may feel deep longing, intense grief, or even anger when returning from a visit with a prisoner. The most important step in helping a child cope with a mental crisis is to help them understand their feelings. If a child is faced with feelings of guilt or shame, they should be helped to replace these feelings with others, such as longing, and be made to understand that what has happened has nothing to do with them. In cases where it is possible to communicate with the prisoner through visits, phone calls, or correspondence, it is ideal for the child to understand that their imprisoned parents still love them. Facing the feelings of a child who has lost a parent due

In this way, the appropriate way is to understand his feelings and show him that his feelings are important to us. The next steps, which are ways to help the child find the best and healthiest way to deal with the crisis, are closely related to the proper completion of these three stages. What happens with the publication of public images of the victim child is, on the one hand, ignoring the child’s feelings and confronting society and those around with their own personal judgments. On the other hand, especially in cases where a sympathetic image of the child is presented, it leads to internalizing the grief and justifying the child’s anger. These two can create conditions where “being a victim” becomes a solution for the child to use in dealing with mental crises. A solution that in this text was referred to as part of its potential harms.

In summary, one of the most important needs of a child facing a crisis caused by the imprisonment or execution of their parents is to help them understand their feelings, accept them, and have their feelings recognized by those around them. These three stages will help them find a suitable solution to cope with the crisis and reduce potential harm caused by the imprisonment and execution of their parents.

Sources:

In 2006, the Council of Crime and Justice conducted research and advocacy on the topic of “Children of Incarcerated Parents”.

2) Krupat, T., Gaynes, E., & Lincroft, Y. (2011). “A Call to Action: Safeguarding New York’s Children of Incarcerated Parents”. New York: New York Initiative for Children of Incarcerated Parents, Osborne Association.

This text is a title and citation for a publication called “A Call to Action: Safeguarding New York’s Children of Incarcerated Parents”, released in 2011. It was published by the New York Initiative for Children of Incarcerated Parents and the Osborne Association.