Motherhood While Incarcerated

Jails and prisons control most of an inmate’s activities, including visitation with family. For this reason, incarceration can lead to strains in relationships. Mothers, who are known for their close relationships with their children, may feel this strain more intensely than other inmates. An incarcerated mother’s relationship with her children is altered, no matter the age of the child.

In a majority of households, mothers are the main care givers for children. When the mother is removed from the household and incarcerated, the children lose their caregiver. When a mother is incarcerated a majority of the children live with a relative besides their father, one third live with their father, and one tenth are placed in foster care (Incarcerated parents and their children, 2009, p. 5).

For a mother to remain in constant contact with her children it takes the effort of who ever has custody of the children. Children who live with either the father or a relative have a higher chance of having frequent visitation with their mother. A child placed in foster care has to rely on their foster parent to take them to visit their mother which can be made difficult if the foster parent has other foster children.

Willingness to go visit the incarcerated mother is not the only reason it is difficult for women to keep a strong relationship with their children. Many women’s prisons are located away from where the children may be staying. If the prison is too far children may only be able to visit once a month or less. Also, planning trips to visit a mother around the child’s school schedule, the guardian’s scheduale and visitation hours is also difficult.

Some women go into jail or prison while pregnant. For these women there is less time for them to bond with their newborn. This lack of initial bonding can lead to a weaker bond later in the child’s life. The reason the bond between mother and newborn is so strong is that there is a higher level of oxytocin. Oxytocin is a hormone that is found in all people which gives them the bonding feeling when hugging or touching others (Palmer, 2002). If prisons or jails do not give female inmates who have just given birth the time to bond with their child, when they are released and reunited with their child the bond may never be strong.

There are some jails and prisons that realize the necessity of a mother bonding with their child. Programs in some prisons and jails allow mothers to spend more time with the child after birth. Where they get to spend the time with and for how long is different with each program. By giving the mother the chance to bond with her child it may give her the desire to turn her life around for the child and no longer do what caused her to be incarcerated.

References

Incarcerated parents and their children. (2009, February). Retrieved April 18, 2011, from The Sentencing Project: http://www.sentencingproject.org/doc/publications/publications/inc_incarceratedparents.pdf

Palmer, L. (2002). Bonding matters... the chemistry of attatchment . Retrieved April 18, 2011, from The Baby Bond: http://www.thebabybond.com/BondingMatters.html