NCJ Number
92586
Journal
Australian and New Zealand Journal of Criminology Volume: 16 Issue: 3 Dated: (September 1983) Pages: 172-183
Date Published
1983
Length
17 pages
Annotation
The Western Australian prison system, following trends of other prison systems in the western world, has begun a limited program of accommodating infants with their prisoner mothers during the mother's term of incarceration.
Abstract
This research canvasses other mother/infant programs noted in the literature, pointing to the special nature of the Western Australia situation. The study focuses on the impact of infants in prison on institutional life and the management problems so engendered. The data indicate that overall, infants have a positive impact on prison life by muting some of the more debilitating effects of institutionalization. Major concerns expressed by those interviewed (prison staff, prisoner mothers, and other prisoners) are, respectively, prisoner management, mother/infant facilities and family ties, and concerns of justice. With these problems in mind, problems of the current program are discussed together with suggested solutions. Nineteen references and an appendix showing characteristics of mothers and infants in prison are included. (Author abstract modified)