Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) resulting from parental incarceration upon children and adolescents in an African-American community. Methodology: Much of the literature on posttraumatic stress disorder focuses on children and adolescents that have been exposed to a one-time event (e.g. school shooting, natural disaster), failing to take into consideration chronic traumatization over a period of time. Most children have been exposed to multiple forms of trauma such as divorce, domestic violence, physical injury, physical/sexual abuse and parental incarceration. All of which can result in psychopathology. Results: Results indicate that the consequences of parental incarceration on children have received least attention in academic research, prison statistics, public policy and media coverage. Conclusion: The hardship of an incarcerated parent exacerbates psychopathology. Children typically display short-term coping responses to deal with their loss, which can develop into long-term emotional and behavioral challenges, such as anxiety, depression, posttraumatic stress disorder, problems with school, delinquency, antisocial behaviors and drug use.