7th October 2026
*Hybrid Event* Strathclyde University / Zoom Online
Speaker: Kylie Lui, University of Hong Kong.
(12:30-14:00 UK | 19:30-21:00 Hong Kong)
Abstract:
How and when children learn about a parent’s incarceration matters not only for family relationships, but also for children’s sense of trust, agency, and belonging. Concealment is often treated as a protective decision made by parents or caregivers, and while stigma and secrecy around parental imprisonment are well-documented challenges for families across Europe and North America, Hong Kong and other Chinese contexts add a distinct layer shaped by collective family honour and “face” — protecting not just the child, but the family’s standing and the incarcerated parent’s image. Children’s perspectives suggest a more complex picture: many want honest, age-appropriate information, but only when they feel emotionally ready to receive it.
This seminar draws on two related research studies conducted in Hong Kong on concealment and disclosure of parental incarceration: a mixed-method study with incarcerated parents and caregivers, and a qualitative study with children who have experienced or are currently experiencing parental imprisonment. Together, these studies examine how families decide whether, when, and how to disclose a parent’s incarceration, and how those decisions shape family relationships over time. The presentation will highlight both adults’ reasoning about protection, stigma, and children’s perceived capacity to cope, and children’s retrospective accounts of secrecy, partial disclosure, and silence in everyday family life. Across the project, disclosure emerges as a negotiated process influenced by children’s age, assessments of their competency, the quality of family relationships, and the wider stigma surrounding imprisonment, while many children also describe access to the truth as foundational to respect, trust, and emotional security within the family.
The seminar considers the implications of the research findings for social work, family support, and criminal justice practice, especially in relation to stigma-sensitive, child centred approaches that recognise children not only as vulnerable dependants but also as social actors with legitimate claims to information and relational respect.
Speaker Bio:
Kylie Lui is a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Social Work and Social Administration and an affiliated lecturer in the Department of History at the University of Hong Kong.
Her interdisciplinary research examines the intersection of embodiment, politics, and social transformation, particularly within sports sociology, incarceration, masculinity, and youth in Hong Kong.