Effects of Mothers Going to Prison
"The experience of imprisonment can have damaging effects for both mothers and their children."
Effects of the family
There are multiple scenarios that can occur in the event of a child's mom going to jail. The first priority is trying to find the closest relative the child has. If there is no relative that is qualified to raise the child, the next scenario is that the child would be put in an orphanage or foster care until the mother gets out of jail. As this may seem all and well, the result of the mother not being there can have some negative effects on the child growing up. Studies have shown that young children who are forcibly separated from their mothers experience long-term developmental and emotional harm. Children outside prison who have a parent imprisoned may experience a range of psychosocial problems during the imprisonment of their parent, including: depression, hyperactivity, aggressive behavior, withdrawal, regression, clinging behavior, sleep problems, eating problems, running away, truancy, poor school grades and delinquency. Further, parental separation can be experienced as desertion or abandonment, which can worsen the distress for the children. The child may not have someone to go to in times of need and as a result will turn to a negative outlet to get that support. This could result in involvement in gangs, drug use, or turning to crime in order to get by.
Women’s special needs include high rates of childhood trauma and abuse. With a mother figure and their protection missing, this is more likely to leave children susceptible to childhood trauma and abuse themselves which in turn can increase their chance of going to prison one day. Mothers who experience domestic violence are also left with the guilt of leaving their child under the abuser’s care.
One other effect of a mother being in prison is that the child often times struggles in school. As a result of their mothers being imprisoned, children may stop trying in school, drop out, or not go to college. The effect is not as great on the elementary level, but the biggest impact is while a student is in high school.
When a child is born in prison, the mother usually has to give the child to a relative or to a foster care. As a result, the child does not build the relationship needed with the mother. There are some states that are trying to install a nursery system and community based residential parenting programs. The results of the parenting programs has received positive results, but the spots are limited and only mothers who are serving short term non-violent sentences can participate in these programs.
Concerning visitation, as a result of there being so few women prisons, mothers are sent far away from their home to serve their sentences. As a result, their children have a harder time to visit them. When the child is able to visit his or her parent, the time for the visit is limited. There are some prisons that do not allow physical contact between the inmate and whomever is visiting, so the child does not have the chance to hug their mom. Another factor is that the visits are generally a few hours so it is a limited time in which the child gets to see thier mom. There are some exceptions where there are some prisons that hold extended visits where the prison allows the children to stay with their moms for a couple of days.
Women’s special needs include high rates of childhood trauma and abuse. With a mother figure and their protection missing, this is more likely to leave children susceptible to childhood trauma and abuse themselves which in turn can increase their chance of going to prison one day. Mothers who experience domestic violence are also left with the guilt of leaving their child under the abuser’s care.
One other effect of a mother being in prison is that the child often times struggles in school. As a result of their mothers being imprisoned, children may stop trying in school, drop out, or not go to college. The effect is not as great on the elementary level, but the biggest impact is while a student is in high school.
When a child is born in prison, the mother usually has to give the child to a relative or to a foster care. As a result, the child does not build the relationship needed with the mother. There are some states that are trying to install a nursery system and community based residential parenting programs. The results of the parenting programs has received positive results, but the spots are limited and only mothers who are serving short term non-violent sentences can participate in these programs.
Concerning visitation, as a result of there being so few women prisons, mothers are sent far away from their home to serve their sentences. As a result, their children have a harder time to visit them. When the child is able to visit his or her parent, the time for the visit is limited. There are some prisons that do not allow physical contact between the inmate and whomever is visiting, so the child does not have the chance to hug their mom. Another factor is that the visits are generally a few hours so it is a limited time in which the child gets to see thier mom. There are some exceptions where there are some prisons that hold extended visits where the prison allows the children to stay with their moms for a couple of days.