Susan Craig Analysis

In the past thirty years the number of incarcerated women in the United States increased by 646%, it is estimated that 6-10% of these women were pregnant at intake. “An Examination of Care Practices of Pregnant Women Incarcerated in Jail Facilities in the United States,” is a study that examined the pregnancy related accommodation and health care provided for regional jail populations. Prior to this study no other study examined regional jail populations, they strictly focused on prison populations. This study is a quantitative survey of common practices and policies implemented across 53 jail facilities in the United States as a function of geographic region. This survey was administered through phone or email to employees

The number of incarcerated women has grown significantly, increasing at a rate double to the rate of male incarceration since 1980 (Covington & Bloom, 2006). Braithwaite, Treadwell & Arriola note that incarcerated women have historically been a forgotten population, and despite the rapid growth of the population, their needs have continued to be ignored (2005). In addition to the stigma that comes with being or having been incarcerated, Braithwaite,

In Dallaire’s (2007) study she states incarcerated mothers of adult children report that their adult children were 2.5 times more likely to be incarcerated than adult children of incarcerated fathers. This pattern is detrimental to society as prison because a family lifestyle, the prospect of having a generation not see the inside of a jail cell diminishes. This study also shows incarcerated mothers of minor children were significantly more likely than incarcerated fathers of minor children to report that their children were in nonfamilial care situations such as foster care or orphanages (Dallaire 2007). This is important to note for the rehabilitation of incarcerated mothers. Since, incarcerated fathers do not bear responsibility of taking care of their children like the mothers do, there needs to be programs in which the partners of incarcerated mothers can be helped to keep their children from entering the system.

In the article, Babies Behind Bars: An evaluation of prison nurseries in American prisons and their potential constitutional challenges by Seham Elmalak. The author points out how prisoners are often

Are mothers in prison not good mothers? Are all divorced families unhappy? Are these myths true? Myths are traditionally false beliefs or ideas. In other words, there are mothers in prison who love their children and there are divorced families who are better off separated. Many people believe in myths that cannot be proven. In the essay, “The Long Good-Bye: Mother’s Day in Federal Prison”, Amanda Coyne writes about her visit to see her sister at the Federal Prison Camp. She describes the environment in which the inmates live their day-to-day lives and even though these “convict-moms” are locked up and separated from their children, they still care and show them love (Coyne 56). In the article, “Stone Soup”, Barbara Kingsolver writes about how in today’s society a divorced marriage equals a “broken” family (66). She feels that even though a couple might be divorced, there can still be a “happy ending”. Both authors are able to dismantle these myths by

The emotional increment in the quantity of ladies in jail in this nation is a consequence of changes in criminal equity arrangement that were expected to 'really begin to tackle wrongdoing' and pay a 'war on medications'. The outcome of these strategies for ladies is from time to time said and even less is caught wind of their effect on youngsters. 76.4% of the ladies in State detainment facilities are moms contrasted with 59.6% of male detainees who are fathers. (As indicated by the Department of Justice). As a rule the offspring of detained men live with their moms some time recently, amid and after their fathers' imprisonment. At the point when moms are sent to jail, their kids are destined to live with a grandparent or other relative (75.2%).

Expecting mothers always dream of what motherhood is going to consist of, with the planning, and prepping. Some women though are unable to embrace that journey, due to being incarcerated. Women who are offenders of non-violent crimes are being given the chance of keeping their child behind prison walls. There is an opportunity in a select few prisons to help women keep their child with them, though it is controversial they are facing a sky rocketing issue of women coming to prison and being pregnant. Some feel as if they should be punished and should not keep their child in prison, that they are in prison for a reason. Others feel as if they can break the cycle of

Jodi-Lynn Joseph shares her first-hand experience with the Read Aloud program when she was herself a participant. She assessed that the program secured her daughter’s attachment to her, and it reassured the then toddler that her mother has not abandoned her throughout her eighteen months of incarceration (McPhail, 2018). The clients using the services of Read Aloud are most likely to feel in similar ways when it comes to the program, as it appears to be a unique initiative. Mother inmates don’t receive a different treatment than female inmates who are not experiencing motherhood, which can make them feel like they are stripped from one part of their identity and dehumanized once they arrived in jail. Women are already suffering from a difference in income prior to incarceration and they cannot afford the cost of what it would cost them to send their children gifts, and Read Aloud addresses a specific yet too often forgotten consequence of their stay in

Since there has been the increase of women in prison, brings the fact that some of these women are also mothers. In some cases these mothers are pregnant during the time of their incarceration. 1 in 25 women in state prisons and 1 in 33 federal prisons are pregnant when admitted to prison, Maruschak, L. (2008). There are laws in place that allow for the mothers to keep their new born for a period of time while she is incarcerated. Mothers that are incarcerated with children creates many negative effects on the children, their families, and even society. In a study by Anne

The incarceration of female offenders has increased from 168.5 to 215.2 between 2010 and 2017 (Russel.S 2017). The decision by the judiciary to send these offenders to prison, many of whom are mothers or have experienced their own physical trauma, fails to achieve just and equitable outcomes for these offenders (Kilroy. D 2016). It is vital that female prisoners receive adequate rehabilitation to ensure a reduction of crime rates within female prisoners and to receive effective aid upon release into the community.

One of the heartbroken punishments of imprisoned mothers is the separation between them and their children. When mothers are incarcerated the question: “who’s going to raise my kid(s)?” becomes a concern (Kennedy 2012). Should mothers be allowed to have their infants in prison with them until they are 30 months old? Lately, with all of the women being incarcerated, there have been several states making programs like this known as jail nurseries. Jail nurseries permits women to nurture their offspring while in the correctional facility. Some states already have it where qualified mothers do have that option. This is a troublesome inquiry to answer given that, from one perspective, correctional facilities obviously don't give a proper domain

Throughout history women have been the primary caretakers of children. According to sociologist Parsons, women are natural caregivers and the ones who take care of the kids and are often more likely to be a single parent than a man (Cite source on this). Therefore this becomes a problem if women go to prison. With more women going to prison more children are going to be at loss of a primary caregiver, leading them to seek attention and affection in other places. Children are already at a disadvantage with one parent in prison, however having a mother in prison is more disadvantageous (Pollock, 2014, p. 27). According to Pollock, it has been reported that adult children of mothers who have ever been incarcerated are 2.5 times as likely to be incarcerated themselves, compared to the children who had fathers incarcerated (2012, P. 271). Children with mothers in prison are at a great risk of engaging in a criminal lifestyles, therefore the way that a woman mothers her child while incarcerated can greatly affect the lifestyle her child or children have in the

A mother seeing her infant being taken away from her can cause psychological problems to the mother such as, depression, anxiety, and disciplinary issues. This can be the cause of increasing recidivism rate along with raising misconduct reports. Worst case scenario would be that the child would have to be put into foster care and if so, they might even be put into adoption. According to the Adoption and Safe Families Act, it states that when a child is put under the state’s responsibility for most of their 22 months, the mother must terminate her parental rights so that the child can be put into adoption (Stern, 2004). This act is another reason why nursery program should be put in other facilities because mothers are being forced to give up their parental rights to their child, which seems unjust because the program was not provided for them in their facilities. Hence, they are not able to take care of the child while they are in prison. If mothers were able to be release from the prison, they would have a hard time being able to regain custody of their child since their parental rights were terminated due to this act.

Prison nurseries started in 1902, in New York, but the next nursery would not be built until much later, in 1994, in Nebraska. Since the 1990s the idea of prison nurseries has become more widely accepted and at least 7 new facilities have opened. Over the more recent years, programs have been formed to build a network of support for moms and babies. The push behind this, perhaps, had to do with the rise of the prison population of parents as stated by Herman (2001)

While the health services incarcerated women fail to receive are considerably lacking in quality, there is more of an importance of reproductive issues women face in prison and the affects it has on them both mentally and physically. Reproductive problems in prisons are said to make the provision of health care more complicated and are an additional challenge to health care services; including menstruation, pregnancy, child-birth, breastfeeding, and menopause (Mignon, 2016). Women who are pregnant in prison and give birth in prison are presented with challenges, including who to gain access to arrangements for the baby’s births and receiving prenatal care (Mignon, 2016). Imprisoned women generally do not get the opportunity to bond with their infant children during their beginning stages of life and that is known to have lastly mental health effects on the women. In turn these situations may more than likely have an effect on the children’s lives as well. Mignon (2016) discovered that many women in fact reported that having to give up their children at birth affects their mental health. In Robertson and Nunez’s (2012) study, they also considered at the effects of incarcerated women and the effects it may have on children they have prior to being jailed; they cited that women prions are more likely than male prisoners to have sole responsibility for their children, so it is another liability on them, unlike their male counterparts. It is important for both the mother and development of the child that the mother be present in its