Parenting Issues During Incarceration

Parents in Prison

• Incarceration of a parent in prison can be called a family crisis. Regardless of the role he holds within the family unit, his absence may be an upheaval as individual family members attempt to adjust to their new roles. According to Creasie Hairston, Ph.D, male prisoners who maintain a high level of parental involvement while they are in prison are more likely to be successful (job, parental involvement and staying out of trouble) than those whose parental involvement is low.

Parental Involvement

• Even from behind bars, parents who work to remain involved with their children and spouses play a critical role in preventing the intergenerational continuation of crime. If these same parents also participate in parenting programs, they will be better parents upon release from prison. Nurturing behavior by parents, whether incarcerated or not, is critical in preventing delinquent behaviors; parents who are incarcerated are more likely to be successful in keeping their children from developing delinquent behaviors if they remain involved and if they work to keep a positive attachment with their children.

Mothers

• Mothers who are incarcerated face a particularly hard time in trying to maintain a parenting role with their children. According to Stephanie Covington, Ph.D, an estimated 1.3 children under the age of 18 had a mother in the custody of the prison system. When these women lose contact with their children, this loss is much harder on them than on males in the correctional system. Covington used a quote from one mother who had been imprisoned: " . . . When they go out to the street, they have . . . nothing inside. Because they say " . . . I don't have my children . . . I will go back to the drug again . . . prostitution again . . . prison again. Why fight? Why fight if I have nothing?"

Communication

• Communication between incarcerated parents and their children is critical to maintaining emotional attachments. Children learn that their imprisoned parent has not forgotten them and the parent is able to interact in a role that is much more acceptable than that of a prison inmate. Still, family visits to see a parent in the prison setting are not easy. Rules change arbitrarily, children and custodial parents are frisked and searched and the environment in the visitation area is not conducive to small children being comfortable while visiting their incarcerated parent.

Social/Emotional Questions

• Continuing to parent while in prison or while a spouse is in prison is difficult. The imprisoned parent does not know what is happening to his children. The only way he knows is when he receives news from his wife or other family members. He feels guilt for not being at home to help with the day-to-day details of parenting, while his wife may feel depressed. She may also feel relief that he is behind bars.