Mom And Babies Program : Mothers And Mothers

The challenges of children who grow up with parents whom were incarcerated at some point in their childhood can have a major effect on their life. The incarceration of parents can at times begin to affect the child even at birth. Now with prison nurseries the impregnated mother can keep her baby during her time in jail. With the loss of their parent the child can begin to develop behavioral problems with being obedient, temper tantrums, and the loss of simple social skills. Never learning to live in a society they are deprived of a normal social life. “The enormous increase incarceration led to a parallel, but far less documented, increase in the proportion of children who grew up with a parent incarcerated during their

Since the mid 80’s, the number of women incarcerated has tripled.The majority of women incarcerated are unskilled, impoverished and disproportionately women of color. As a result, African American children are nine times more likely to have a parent in prison than a White child.

The United States’ ever-expanding prison and jail population has brought about many questions regarding the side-effects of mass incarceration, namely involving the effects on the children and families from which those incarcerated are removed. Regardless of the perspectives on the appropriate position of incarceration in the criminal justice system, imprisonment disrupts many positive and nurturing relationships between parents and their children. In fact, more than 1.7 million children have a parent who is incarcerated in a state or federal prison as of 2007 (Glaze & Maruschak, 2008). These youths are at risk for developing behavior and school problems in addition to insecure attachment relationships. Parental incarceration, which may also be coupled with economic disadvantage and inconsistent living arrangements (Geller, Garfinkel, Cooper, & Mincy, 2009) can be an extremely difficult experience for children. It should come as no surprise that families with children suffer economic strain and instability when a parent is imprisoned, considering how each parent in today’s world typically needs to set aside time to earn an income to support their family, and most are unable to support their homes on one income. While it may be considered intrusive to some to intervene in the lives of children and families with incarcerated parents, research has suggested that there are positive societal benefits to intervening in the lives of incarcerated parents and their

Being the child of an incarcerated parent has substantial amounts of negative influences on youth today. As young children, many consider their parents as role models. Someone who they can confide in, someone who will preserve them, and someone who will guide them through life. For most youngsters having an incarcerated parent, means that their admirable example in life is absent. Not having a parent present in one's childhood leads to innumerable negative outcomes and impacts.

Today prisons are overcrowded and over two million Americans, male, and female are sitting in jail or prison, and two thirds of those people incarcerated are parents (U.S. Department of Justice). Approximately two million of these children are separated from their mom or dad because of incarceration of which these are the custodial parent. These children suffer from poverty, inconsistency in caregivers, separation from siblings, reduced education, increased risk for substance abuse, alcoholism and incarceration themselves.

Care for pregnant women is even more dismal, considering their additional health needs” (p. 11). The quantitative report goes on to state that many pregnant offenders have undiagnosed or untreated conditions that can increase the pregnancy risks and contribute to poor birth outcomes. Mothers Behind Bars surveyed all 50 states regarding prenatal care and found: 43 states did not require medical examinations as a component of prenatal care; 41 states did not require prenatal nutrition counseling or the provision of appropriate nutrition; 34 states did not require screening and treatment for high-risk pregnancies; 48 states did not offer advice on activity levels and safety during pregnancy; 45 states did not make advance arrangements for deliveries with particular hospitals; and 49 states failed to report all incarcerated women’s pregnancies and their outcomes (The Rebecca Project for Human Rights and the National Women's Law Center, 2010). Researchers did not list under limitations of their findings if obstetric care was provided inside or contracted to an outside care provider. This information would have been beneficial and may have affected the state’s responses to the survey questions. Ferszt and Clarke (2012) conducted a qualitative survey of 50 wardens, a warden at a women’s correctional

Over the last half-century, the United States has turned more and more frequently to the use of incarceration as a form of punishment. Sentencing policies and stricter laws requiring mandatory minimums for certain offenses, no matter the conditions of the offense, have boosted the incarceration rate in this country to staggering heights. The typical issues that affect America’s prison systems are reflected in Jennifer Gonnerman’s book, Life on the Outside: The Prison Odyssey of Elaine Bartlett. Elaine Bartlett’s life, along with the lives of surrounding family and friends, is forever changed by her 16 years of incarceration. Elaine Bartlett is only one of many Americans that have been wronged by the cruel and unusual punishments implemented by a society claiming to have a fair, balanced, and equal justice system. A fair and balanced justice system that convicts people who carries the right amount of drugs in weight to have a mandatory incarceration for a minimum of 15 years to life, yet those who commit murder or rape may receive a lesser sentence. There is also the issue of transitioning back into society after being incarcerated for so many years. Incarceration does not just punish the offender; the offender’s family and friends are also negatively affected by the conviction and imprisonment of a loved one. Children could be put in the system or need to be raised by other members in the family. This could lead the children to deviate down the same path as their parent who

Since 1970 the rate of incarceration has more than tripled in the United States alone. In may urban cities such as Washington D.C., it has increased five fold. But statistics do not reveal what it is like for the children, wives, and parents of prisoners. It certainly does not show how the increasing numbers of inmates on the inside are having a profound effect on the outside--reaching deep into the family and community life of urban american families. Drawing on numerous powerful family structures supported by extensive empirical data, studies are shining a light on the darker side of a system that is failing the very people it is designed to protect.

Some of the children become dependent on the government sustenance. Incarcerated women often find that their actions hurt their family “especially of women, destroys the family network. When the men got to prison, potential role models are lost. When women go to prison, families most often fall apart” (Hotelling) while in an institution they might never see their children. As statistics continuously provides that children lived with and cared for by their

prisons, State and Federal, is rapidly increasing as a result of incarceration being used as

In relation to the entire incarceration population, women are the most vulnerable, and even more vulnerable when pregnant. Since most of the pregnancies are unplanned during incarceration, the prenatal care is far from superior. This ties into the possible partner violence, substance abuse, and all the other issues the women enter into the prison with, which all compromise the health of the fetus. As earlier stated, these women are likely to be poor, less educated, history of violence in their lives, and tend to be in a non-white ethnic group. Separating a child from his or her mother can impact the child’s life dramatically and it is important to realize the affects incarceration has on the child and the family. It can lead to worsening of all the mental health and social issues already present in the family. It is also crucial to understand that most incarcerated women are in there for nonviolent crimes.

While most expectant mothers are planning for baby showers, shopping for maternity clothes and preparing the baby’s nursery, the incarcerated mother-to-be has to remain in a constant state of alertness and preparedness for situations that can put her and her unborn baby at risk, in an environment that is both intimidating and routinely violent. (Hutchinson et. al., 2008)

It might be difficult to understand how important your parents or even one of them can make a huge impact of how you would become as an adult. Right at this moment children all around the nation suffer from this problem, and statistics from the “Children And Families Of The Incarcerated Fact Sheet” demonstrate that it is much common from what we think. Demographics on this sheet show the difference between ethnicities and how much of this data is related to the

For many incarcerated mothers, many of their children are also left behind due to their imprisonment. Many children face finical struggles due to their mother being in prison and some may even be placed under the state and placed in foster care. Women are denied authority and power of their own children’s well beings which can lead to juvenile delinquency, failing grades, and even sexual abuse. Parenting classes, employment training, counseling, and other alternative treatment options may not only help lower recidivism rates but may also help strengthen families and communities.

The prisons are unreasonably overcrowded due to mass incarceration in the United States; consequently, it is costing taxpayers billions of dollars a year to sustain this “lock them up and throw away the key” mentality, not to mention the millions of lives, of offenders and the families that are left in the communities, that have been affected in a negative way (Clear 1). The sad thing is that, since the end of 1974, over 34 million human beings have been processed through America’s criminal court system and close to 24 million children have been traumatized by the loss of a parent or even worse, both parents (Drucker 44). The growth rate of prisons, for close to a century (1880-1975), stayed