NCJ Number
204087
Date Published
1998
Length
11 pages
Annotation
This chapter examines the needs of incarcerated mothers and their children and presents a model program that is designed to nurture the mother-child relationship.
Abstract
Most women who are incarcerated are mothers; many of them are single mothers. The first part of the chapter is devoted to examining how incarceration affects the mother, her children, and their mother-child relationship. Women offenders not only have to deal with the reality of incarceration, they also have to deal with the trauma of being separated from their children. By the same degree, children of incarcerated women also experience problems with separation and changes in their living environments. When these mothers are released from prison, in most cases they will return to their children as the sole caregiver. As such, it is imperative that inmate programs respond to this reality by developing ways of maintaining the mother-child relationship during incarceration and after release. A community-based model program that attempts to nurture the mother-child relationship is described. The 8-week program offers three components: an 8-week parenting class, an ongoing parent support group, and an 8-week curriculum entitled, “Working With Emotions.” The driving premise of the program is that the continued contact between the incarcerated mother and the child is the most significant predictor of family reunification. As such, the model program is community-based so that mother and child are within proximity of each other, unlike the situation faced in many women’s prisons that are located in rural areas with no access to public transportation. A flow chart of the model program is presented and, in closing, the authors call for more community-based corrections programs for women in order to avoid the costly and unnecessary incarceration of mothers. Exhibit, references