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Some scholars argue that punishment communicates information about punished individuals. We extended this theorizing by asking whether laypeople (237 5- to 6-year-olds, 221 7- to 8-year-olds, 220 adults) understand punishment as communicating messages about individuals not directly implicated in punishment-related scenarios and how this understanding might change across development. Three studies asked U.S. 5- to 8-year-olds and adults to indicate the extent to which they believe that adults' incarceration is attributable to their biological relatives. In Study 1, children were more likely than adults to indicate that people grow up to become incarcerated because of an incarcerated biological mother, and these judgments generalized across members of different racial groups. In Study 2, 5- to 6-year-olds, versus 7- to 8-year-olds and adults, more readily predicted that individuals born to an incarcerated mother would have contact with the legal system in the future. Study 3 showed evidence of age-related changes in essentialism using a questionnaire but did not find such evidence in a task that pitted essentialist and non-essentialist explanations against each other, suggesting that 5- to 6-year-olds may view both biological and social factors as important contributors to incarceration. Taken together, these studies highlight the importance of social learning and cognitive development in shaping reasoning about punishment’s messages. 

Abstract Adults often respond negatively toward children with incarcerated parents. Yet, the developmental foundations for such negativity remain unclear. Two studies (N = 331 U.S. residents; plurality White; plurality male; data collected between Winter 2019 and Spring 2021) addressed this topic. Study 1 probed 5- to 6-year-olds' and 7- to 8-year-olds' inferences about peers with and without incarcerated parents. Children reported less certainty that peers with, versus without, incarcerated parents possess moral beliefs. Study 2 showed that among older children, inferences about parental absence did not fully account for this pattern of results. Across studies, children behaved less generously toward peers with, versus without, incarcerated parents. These studies illuminate how early socio-moral judgment may contribute to negativity toward children with incarcerated parents.