⚖️ What it means to have grown up with a parent in jail or serving a prison sentence
Growing up with a parent in jail meant you learned early to distrust police and authorities, seeing them as threats to be managed and outsmarted rather than sources of protection.
You may have carried a secret weight of shame about your family situation while trying to appear normal to the outside world. Your view of law enforcement, the legal system, and authority figures differs significantly from friends whose families didn't have those experiences. You learned that the justice system works differently for different people—that connections, money, and status matter more than facts or truth.
You might have developed a complex relationship with rules—either following them rigidly to avoid what happened to your family or seeing them as made for others and meant to be broken. In situations involving authority figures like police or judges, you may experience a visceral stress response that others don't understand—your body remembers what your family went through and stays alert for potential threats.