NCJ Number
213415
Journal
Prison Journal Volume: 86 Issue: 1 Dated: March 2006 Pages: 89-113
Date Published
March 2006
Length
25 pages
Annotation
This study examined factors related to the loss of parental rights, as well as parenting attitudes among a sample of 483 substance-abusing women offenders.
Abstract
One-third (33.1 percent) of the sample had lost parental rights to at least one child, and approximately two-thirds (66.9 percent) retained parental rights to all of their children. The findings indicate that female offenders who have lost their parental rights have a long history of problems, many of which originated in childhood and may be related to their current lack of resources and stability, which contributed to their loss of parental rights. A previous study of this sample showed that a history of adoption or foster care was strongly linked to experiences of childhood physical and sexual abuse, exposure to family violence, and later adult mental distress and involvement with sex work. Mothers who had lost their parental rights did not differ significantly from other mothers in their attitude about parenting. For the sample in general, children were perceived as objects for adult gratification; the needs of the child were viewed as secondary to their own needs. The sample consisted of women who had been recruited into California's Female Offender Treatment and Employment Project (FOTEP). This study analyzed baseline data on FOTEP participants. Data addressed participants' amount of contact with their children and their children's caretakers during the mother's incarceration, characteristics of participants who had and had not lost parental rights to a child, and the relationship of parental status and other indicators of psychosocial functioning with attitudes toward parenting. Bivariate analysis was used to compare the characteristics of mothers based on parental status, and logistic regression models were used in predicting parental status. 5 tables and 73 references