Parents in Prison - A Comparative Analysis of the Effects of Incarceration on the Families of Men and Women (From Research in Law, Deviance and Social Control, Volume 5, P 171-183, 1983, Steven Spitzer, ed.)

• NCJ Number: 94376
• Author(s): L A Koban
• Date Published: 1983
• Length: 13 pages
• Sale Source: Jai Press, Inc
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

These limited data from interviews with female and male Kentucky inmates indicate that the imprisonment of a woman is more disruptive to her family life than the incarceration of a man.

Abstract

All the women in the Kentucky prison system were contacted, and 85 percent (n=95) agreed to be interviewed. An equal number of men were selected from two men's prisons comparable to the women's in location and security classification. An attempt was made to control male participants for their comparability to the female population in offense, age, race, and length of time served. Several questions posed to the inmates addressed their satisfaction with their children's placement and their feelings about whether the children were happy and well treated. The majority of the questions focused on more objective indicators of the stability of the relationship. Seventy-six percent of the women and 56 percent of the men surveyed were parents. Female offenders had closer relationships with their children prior to their incarceration. Supporting data show that most women were living with their children and most men were not prior to their incarceration; that most women retained legal custody; that fewer women than men decided not to have their children visit; that women are more likely to be visited at least once; and that more women planned to reunite with their children after release. Further, women's relationships with their children and the family structure are more strained by incarceration than are men's families. This was shown by data indicating that men's children usually remain with their mothers; that men think their children are happier; that more men than women have frequent contact with their children; that fewer men have problems getting through to their children; that men can depend on the child's mother to bring the children for a visit; that men's children are less often separated from their siblings; and that men are usually not incarcerated as far from their home communities as are women. Three notes and 11 references are provided.