









































COLUMBIA SOCIAL WORK REVIEW, VOL. XIX  |   101   100  |  COLUMBIA SOCIAL WORK REVIEW, VOL. XIX  

1 in every 25 children in the United States currently has a parent 
incarcerated in jail or prison. Black and Latinx children make up the 
majority of  this population, as their parents are overrepresented in 
local jails and state and federal prisons. Parental incarceration affects a 
child’s behavior, emotional and mental health, social interaction, and 
financial stability. Daughters of  incarcerated parents are particularly 
affected. This research investigates testimonios (testimonies), a narrative 
form of  counter-storytelling, as a tool to address the traumatic effect 
of  parental incarceration on female children of  color. Testimonios give 
a person agency and allow them to share their unique and nuanced 
experiences in detail. In-depth interviews demonstrated that testimonios 
can be an effective healing tool for women who have been impacted 
by parental incarceration and can improve social service organizations 
directed towards families affected by incarceration. Testimonios provided 
space in which daughters of  incarcerated parents were able to express 
their emotions and make sense of  their experiences. The interviews also 
revealed shared themes in the experiences of  multiple interviewees.

The Testimonios of System-
Impacted Daughters of Color  

on Healing from Parental 
Incarceration

ANGIE BELEN MONREAL
SHE, HER



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THE TESTIMONIOS ANGIE BELEN MONREAL

THE TESTIMONIOS OF SYSTEM-IMPACTED DAUGHTERS OF 
COLOR ON HEALING FROM PARENTAL INCARCERATION
BACKGROUND

Despite having 5% of  the world’s population, the United States 
currently holds over 25% of  the world’s incarcerated population, with 
2.3 million people currently in jail or prison (American Civil Liberties 
Union [ACLU], 2020). Data shows that 52-63% of  individuals who 
are incarcerated have children, with the number of  mothers rapidly 
increasing in recent years (Thomson et al., 2018). Nationwide, one in 
every 25 children currently has a parent incarcerated in jail or prison, 
and an estimated five to eight million children have experienced parental 
incarceration in their lifetime (Haskin & Turney, 2018). Parental 
incarceration affects entire families, but children experience higher 
instances of  trauma and adversity as a result of   parental incarceration 
(Arditti & Savla, 2015). 

Children who have experienced the incarceration of  a parent, 
family member, or community member are often referred to as being 
“system-impacted” (Cerda-Jara et al., 2019, p. 2). In this paper, 
“system-impacted” specifically refers to a child’s experience of  parental 
incarceration. This research focuses on female system-impacted children, 
referred to as daughters, because previous literature has demonstrated 
that daughters experience higher instances of  antisocial behavior, anger, 
impulsivity, low self-esteem, and delinquency than sons as a result of  
parental incarceration (Burgess-Proctor et al., 2016). This research 
also focuses on system-impacted daughters of  color because Black and 
Latinx parents are disproportionately represented in state and federal 
prison populations. For example, Black people make up 13% of  the 
U.S. population, but 40% of  the incarcerated population (Sawyer & 
Wagner, 2020). These numbers are a reflection of  the disproportionate 
incarceration rates for the Black and Latinx populations (Western & 
Pettit, 2010). 

Current literature has found that parental incarceration has both 
short- and long-term negative effects on children (Miller, 2006). In the 

short term, system-impacted children experience traumatic separation, 
loneliness, unstable childcare arrangements, and the effects of  
reduced family income (Murray et al, 2012). In the long term, system-
impacted children are at higher risk of  experiencing intergenerational 
incarceration, antisocial behavior, stigmatization, poor educational 
performance, and stress (Murrey, 2015), as well as general anger and 
additional mental health problems (Wakefield, 2007). 

Existing research, largely based on quantitative analyses, fails to 
capture the voices of  system-impacted children and the nuances of  their 
unique experiences with parental incarceration. Academics have too 
often lumped all system-impacted children together when researching 
their experiences. For example, Burgess-Proctor et al. (2016) studied the 
effects of  parental incarceration on both daughters and sons, but failed 
to analyze the impact of  race and ethnicity on the lived experiences of  
both genders. It is important that an intersectional lens is applied to fully 
capture experiences of  children with incarcerated parents. Testimonios 
are intended to capture the intersectional and nuanced experiences 
of  system-impacted children with regard to gender, race, ethnicity, 
socioeconomic status, and so forth. 

RESEARCH QUESTIONS
This paper focuses on the traumatic effects of  parental incarceration 

on daughters of  color and demonstrates how testimonios, a form 
of  counter-storytelling, can be used as an effective healing tool. 
Conversations around parental incarceration are limited due to immense 
stigma and shame. Family members often tell children that their 
incarcerated parent is on vacation, rather than in jail or prison; however, 
children discover their parent’s incarceration through other social means, 
such as friends (Burgess-Proctor et al., 2016). When children are told 
about the incarceration, they often proceed to conceal their parent’s 
incarceration from friends and others (Burgess-Proctor et al., 2016) due 
to the stigmatization that will follow them into adulthood (Sykes & Pettit, 
2014). To counter the stigma and shame around parental incarceration, 



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THE TESTIMONIOS

this research shed light on the following research questions:

1. How have daughters of  color with incarcerated parents expressed 
themselves through storytelling?

2. Can counter-storytelling be used as an effective healing tool for 
daughters who have experienced parental incarceration? 

Counter-storytelling is a framework used to elevate the voices of  
populations who are often forgotten and long silenced, making it an 
ideal method for addressing the needs of  system-impacted daughters 
of  color (Yosso, 2013). Counter-storytelling occurs when a person tells 
their life story or shares a particular experience, either informally in a 
conversation with another person or formally as a culturally responsive 
tool in a therapeutic setting. It has been found to be an effective tool for 
healing after trauma. For example, Native Americans who experienced 
forced boarding school reported emotional release and healing when 
sharing their stories through counter-storytelling (Charbonneau-Dahlen 
et al., 2016). Counter-storytelling promotes resiliency by showcasing how 
a person has adapted and built skills in order to overcome the systemic 
barriers and oppression they have faced (Hess, 2019). For instance, in 
response to an environment where there was an absence of  nurturing 
roles in boarding schools, Native American fifth and sixth graders 
developed survival skills by becoming caregivers themselves for younger 
children. Most important, counter-storytelling shifts and challenges 
the white supremicist paradigm by illuminating patterns of  racialized 
inequality through recounting experiences of  individualized and shared 
racism (Yosso, 2013). 

In this paper, Critical Race Theory (CRT) will be used in conjunction 
with counter-storytelling to elevate the voices of  marginalized, 
underserved, and silenced system-impacted daughters of  color. CRT 
is a theoretical framework used in the social sciences that examines the 
relationship between society and race, law, and power (Crenshaw et al., 
1995). Using this framework will provide an in-depth look at how race 
and power impact populations who experience parental incarceration. 
CRT and counter-storytelling have been used in a variety of  situations to 

help individuals heal from trauma and have been shown to acknowledge 
the resilience and survival skills of  marginalized populations (Solorzano 
& Yosso, 2001). CRT is important for this research because most children 
who experience parental incarceration are people of  color, creating 
an increase in future class and racial inequality through the negative 
consequences of  mass incarceration on children (Wildeman & Western, 
2010). 

Testimonios are used strategically to give agency to daughters of  color. 
Agency gives people the power to negotiate their needs and identify what 
they feel in spaces of  inequality (Cushing & Lewis, 2009). This form of  
storytelling has been used in feminist research methodologies as a form of  
resistance, a tool for resilience building, and a source of  hope in the midst 
of  challenging systemic oppression (Huber & Cueva, 2012). Testimonios 
decolonize storytelling by giving a person agency to highlight power and 
oppression, and can be viewed as a genre within counter-storytelling 
(Medina, 2018.). 

METHODOLOGY
Previous research on the experiences of  system-impacted children 

has reduced their experiences to statistics using quantitative methods. As 
such, through the practice of  counter-storytelling with a CRT lens, this 
research provides a more in-depth representation of  the experiences of  
system-impacted daughters of  color. The qualitative data comes from 
in-depth interviews with two women who had incarcerated parents and 
one employee from Homeboy Industries’ Legal Services department who 
had worked with the interviewees for over a year. Homeboy Industries, 
based in Los Angeles, CA, is a nonprofit organization that assists former 
gang members, previously incarcerated individuals, and their families 
to become positive contributing members of  society through providing 
access to job placements, tattoo removals, therapy, and legal services 
(Leap et al., 2011). The organization is considered a good fit for this 
research because of  their work with system-impacted families. 

The women interviewed were from Los Angeles, CA, Mexican-
American, in their late twenties, and both experienced the incarceration 

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THE TESTIMONIOS

of  their fathers when they were adolescents. Respondents were asked 18 
questions during the interview about how they navigated their parent’s 
incarceration, communicated with others, and what resources they deem 
necessary for healing. The interview questions include: “Looking back, 
how would you say being system-impacted affected your trajectory?”; 
“As of  today, do you share your narrative of  being system-impacted 
with others?”; “How do you feel when you talk about your mother’s/
father’s incarceration?”; and ”What services do you feel are necessary 
for daughters to heal from parental incarceration?” The employee 
interviewed was asked different questions, such as, “In your role, do 
you experience listening to the children’s narratives/stories about 
their experience with parental incarceration?” These questions were 
constructed ahead of  the interview and were open-ended to promote 
discussion. Additional probing questions were asked during each 
interview when a respondent disclosed new information. For example, 
when an interviewee disclosed the impact her father’s incarceration 
had on her career choice, she was asked to elaborate. Interviews were 
conducted in the Homeboy Industries legal office and recorded using a 
phone device and deleted soon after the interview was transcribed by the 
researcher. 

All respondents were given consent forms and informed about the 
study’s objective beforehand. Ethical measures were taken throughout 
the duration of  the research project and pseudonyms are assigned to 
each respondent to maintain confidentiality. Before the interviews, the 
researcher built rapport with each interviewee through legal assistance 
and everyday interactions at Homeboy Industries. Furthermore, 
Columbia University Institutional Review Board (IRB) approved this 
research. The data from the semi-structured interviews were thematically 
transcribed and analyzed. Google Drive, Google Docs, and Microsoft 
Excel were used for coding and tracking emerging themes. After the data 
collection, thematic analysis was used to identify themes and patterns in 
responses. 

RESULTS
The objectives of  using testimonios are to showcase the point of  view 

of  the person being interviewed, identify what they deem important 
from their experiences, and make an urgent call to action based on the 
themes and patterns that emerge from their intentional sharing (Reyes 
& Rodirguez, 2012). Themes that arose across the interviews conducted 
in this study included a strong sense of  healing from sharing testimonios, 
increased willingness to share, education as an escape, financial instability, 
and negative feelings towards individuals who did not share their struggle. 
In general, daughters of  incarcerated parents found that telling stories of  
their lived experiences was a form of  empowerment.

INTERVIEW RESULTS  
STRONG SENSE OF HEALING 

The Homeboy Industries’ staff person who was  interviewed reported 
observing a strong sense of  healing from the women who shared their 
testimonios. Maria and Gabriela, who shared their testimonios, agreed and 
reported that sharing their narratives about their parent’s incarceration 
with others was healing and therapeutic. A staff member who works 
in Homeboy Industries’ Legal Services department focusing on family 
reunification, expungement, and other court services, stated: 

[They share] all the little details that are important to them 
and half  the time they end up crying. It is more like a therapy 
session. I only end up using half  of...the stuff they have already 
told me. Half  of  it is not important to the case...but it is 
important for me to understand where they are coming from, 
so I can sort of  better craft those declarations for a judge that is 
going to read. Yeah, a lot of  times them doing their legal work 
ends up sort of  being therapeutic sessions because they get to 
talk to someone who is not going to judge them, who is actually 
doing something to help them.

The themes in the interview reveal that storytelling and full disclosure 
about the traumatic experience of  having a parent incarcerated can be 
therapeutic because the speaker is given a chance to share their own 

ANGIE BELEN MONREAL



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THE TESTIMONIOS

experiences and emotions regarding what occurred during this vulnerable 
part of  their lives. The legal services staff stated that when women who 
are impacted by the criminal justice system are given the opportunity to 
speak about their experiences, they find it to be therapeutic and healing, 
especially because they are met with no judgement. For storytelling to 
work as an effective strategy, the speaker must have an attentive and 
encouraging listener (Rosenthal, 2003). Therefore, the professional staff 
at Homeboy Industries fulfilled this role by creating a judgment-free 
environment for her participants. 

AVOIDANCE BY PROFESSIONAL STAFF

 Avoidance has been observed in research on parental 
incarceration (McGinley & Jones, 2018), as well as in this research. The 
employee interviewed discussed the prevalence of   avoidance, or the 
staff member’s reticence to speak of  the client’s parental incarceration 
unless they first broached the topic. When asked if  she discusses with 
the children their experiences and feelings about having an incarcerated 
parent, the staff member responded, “Me no. Because the kids I usually 
see are five or under so they do not really understand what’s going on. 
They will think their parents were on vacation or somewhere doing a 
work thing.”

The professional staff usually avoids mentioning the incarceration of  
the children’s parents, allowing the children to think that their parents are 
away on business or vacation. This is a relatively common experience for 
children as their parents, teachers, and service providers shield the child 
from the truth of  what is really happening with their parents (Burgess-
Proctor et al., 2016). This is often due to the parent’s shame and guilt 
of  being incarcerated and not wanting to inflict it on their children or 
not knowing how to address the topic in a way that is understandable 
for children. However, it is important for these children to grow up and 
begin to ask questions about their parents. Counter-storytelling can prove 
beneficial for this population as it speaks directly to these issues and gives 
voice to them, instead of  perpetuating avoidance and secrecy.

EDUCATION 

Within all three interviews, education was identified as a form of  
healing by both staff and the daughters. When asked what is necessary 
for system-impacted daughters to heal, Maria stated, “I would say 
education. Something they can be in control of  [like] college degrees.” 
She explained that by giving girls who are dealing with their parent’s 
incarceration something they can control, like education, they begin to 
feel liberated. She recalled, “I would just be at the library, reading books, 
or learning stuff at school. It would take me to another place, a place 
where you don’t need money.” 

LONG-TERM FINANCIAL INSTABILITY

Financial instability was another common theme. Both participants 
shared how their parent’s incarceration led to a loss of  family income 
and an increase in financial stress. It is important to acknowledge that in 
addition to the economic insecurity that exists while a parent is in prison, 
financial instability continues beyond release. The negative consequences 
of  having a parent incarcerated do not disappear once they return 
home. Gabriela, who experienced her father’s incarceration in middle 
and high school, reflected on her dad’s experience after release: “He 
did not have a job for five years after that. So my mom was struggling 
for a long time. I feel like my dad’s financial instability affected my 
mom and our household. So I could not go to college right after high 
school.” Gabriela’s father’s unemployment and inability to contribute to 
the family’s income affected her educational trajectory by limiting her 
ability to seek higher education. Both Maria and Gabriela mentioned 
struggling with food insecurity and paying bills, as well as needing 
additional assistance while their parents were incarcerated and in the 
years following.

PRIVILEGE 

Another theme that emerged was anger that the daughters had 
towards others whom they identified as having “privilege,” or those who 
they saw as not having any “real” problems. Through time, however, the 

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anger transformed into a motivation to excel. Maria expressed, “At first, 
it made me a bit bitter because I would see people who do not have any 
real problems in life… but I grew out of  that.” She later explained that 
her bitterness about her parent’s incarceration turned into motivation 
and increased her personal resilience. The concept of  resilience appeared 
in both of  the interviews, when Maria and Gabriela discussed how they 
came to understand and accept their parent’s incarceration and use 
their adversity as motivation. Previous research has shown that children 
who experience separation and poverty due to a parent’s incarceration 
experience lasting negative effects. However, through the use of  external 
resources and strength-based factors, children can showcase resiliency 
(Miller, 2007). Resilience and healing may arise from the practice of  
storytelling.

BENEFITS OF TESTIMONIOS

By sharing their narratives, Maria and Gabriela were able to open up 
about what they felt when having to deal with their incarcerated parents. 
Although there were only two interviews with system-impacted daughters 
and one staff interview conducted, the data supported the predicted 
hypotheses. Testimonios are therapeutic for children of  incarcerated 
parents, allow for a nuanced understanding of  their experiences, and 
provide insight for service providers about the specific needs of  the 
people they serve. 

LIMITATIONS  
One of  the limitations of  this research was limited time. Data 

collection was limited to less than ten weeks. There was not enough 
time to recruit a larger sample size of  participants and it was difficult to 
create a strong bond with the participants in such a short period of  time. 
Another limitation was the structure and sensibility of  the interview. 
The interview was recorded on a device, creating an environment where 
interviewees felt reluctant about the amount of  information they shared 
and skepticism about their privacy. A further limitation is that this 
research was conducted independently without team support. 

FUTURE DIRECTIONS
This research highlighted the positive impacts of  daughters of  color 

sharing their testimonios. Because testimonio sharing was shown to be a 
source of  empowerment, this research demonstrates a need for more 
safe spaces where daughters of  color can feel comfortable sharing their 
testimonios, and in doing so, address their needs and emotions. Safe spaces 
can include a support group or an after-school program where youth 
with similar experiences of  parental incarceration can get to know each 
other and feel less alone. These spaces can also provide an outlet for 
system-impacted children to understand their emotions and process the 
complexity of  their anger. Social services organizations and social work 
practitioners should strive to create educational programs and support 
groups for system-impacted children of  color. 

Through the themes revealed in the interviews, this research points 
towards the specific needs of  system-impacted daughters of  color, 
including financial and educational resources. Without financial support 
of  incarcerated parents, system-impacted children should have rental 
assistance, food pantries, and educational school supplies available. It is 
essential to create educational programs that serve this population, as 
those who experienced parental incarceration have demonstrated that 
they could be a potential escape. Given the findings of  this research, 
future research with a larger sample size that includes women from other 
marginalized populations, in particular Black women, is needed to argue 
the effectiveness of  storytelling in healing from parental incarceration. 

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I gratefully acknowledge the study participants for their willingness 

to share their experiences, as well as Homeboy Industries for making 
this research possible. Additionally, I want to acknowledge my family 
for their support, especially El Gerarchos Punk and Lula Munoz. I also 
want to thank Nayeli Monreal, Gerardo Monreal, Citlali Monreal from 
Anaheim, and Humberto. This research was supported by grants from 
the University of  California, Los Angeles Advanced Academic Placement 

ANGIE BELEN MONREAL



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Program’s Community Development and Social Justice (CDSJ), and the 
mentorship and guidance of  Ms. Noemi Rivera-Olmedo and Dr. Alice 
Ho.

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ANGIE BELEN MONREAL

ANGIE BELEN MONREAL (she/her) is an incoming Ph.D. 
student in the sociology department at the University of  California, 
Irvine. She will be graduating this year with a master of  science 
in social work from Columbia University. Angie received her B.A. 
in sociology from the University of  California, Los Angeles and 
her A.A. in sociology from Fullerton Community College. She 
has done hands on and research work on parental incarceration, 
reentry, and immigration. Angie is a proud first generation college 
student and was born and raised in Anaheim, CA.


