The Criminal Justice System and Reform

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One group in particular, women with children.

The criminal penalties and mandatory jail sentences that were put into effect during the 80’s and 90’s for drug users resulted in sending a lot more women to prison. How this impacted them and their families is not something that were here much about. More than 75% of incarcerated women are also mothers of young children. When men are incarcerated-59% are fathers- the children live with their mothers. But when mothers are locked up, the children are usually placed with a grandparent or another relative. This means that children are most likely to have greater difficulty adjusting when their mothers go to jail than when their fathers are incarcerated.

Those relatives with whom the children were placed, also had major difficulties adjusting to the changes. Problems include, financial, finding day care, arranging visits to the prison and sometimes relocating and giving up jobs. (Harm & Thompson 1995). Also the care givers had their own feelings of anger and guilt over the mother’s incarceration. (Hungerford (1993)

The homes that the children go to are often less than perfect. And many children have been exposed to abuse and neglect, witnessed domestic violence, and substance abuse, as a result they may behave in a way that is difficult to manage.

It is difficult for the children to maintain a relationship with their mother who is locked up. It is especially true if there are limited resources and the prison is a long way from where the child is staying. Because few facilities are for female prisoners, women are often incarcerated more than one hundred miles from their child’s place of residence.

It was found that grandparents caring for children face a lot of difficulty finding help when they the need it. (Mullen, 1995). Other relatives face similar barriers. Most of the limited programs offered are not designed for children who are living with someone other than their parent.

This is because without legal custody, some of the programs are not available to them. And also relatives may be afraid to ask for help, thinking they might lose temporary physical custody of the children to the State.

Because of what the children go through they are at risk for offending themselves and becoming involved with the criminal justice system. This is because trauma recurring during one stage of development results in what is called enduring trauma.

Imprisoned mothers are not any more abusive and neglectful to children than the general population (Johnston, 1994). Female offenders are in poverty raising children in low income homes. Poverty is linked to higher rates of all of trauma that children experience and contributes to the high levels of stress that keep families from providing adequate care to children. The trauma of children incarcerated mothers is associated with the mother’s arrest and experiences that children have while their mother is incarcerated.

Children who repeatedly experience trauma have difficulty mastering one traumatic experience before experiencing another. Without intervention the fear, anxiety, sadness and grief felt in response to trauma can be manifested in reactive behaviors such as physical or verbal aggression, withdrawal, hyper-vigilance, or sexualized behavior. Trauma-reactive behaviors can become fixed patterns of behavior that give children some sense of control. Patterns of trauma-reactive behaviors might include fighting with peers, substance abuse, gang activity, asocial behaviors such as lying and stealing or promiscuity. Some reactive behavior patterns, like stealing and sexual aggression, are illegal in and of themselves. Others like substance abuse and gang involvement, have a strong association with crime.

In order for children to recover from trauma, they need a safe, stable environment free from further trauma. Rather than experiencing this stability, children of incarcerated mothers may continue to experience traumatizing events. These may be in the form of witnessing the arrest of their mother, being separated from siblings, or changing residences and caregivers. These experiences, coupled with poverty, contribute to the recurring or enduring nature of the childhood trauma that place children of incarcerated mothers at risk for involvement in the criminal justice system.

Many of the children of incarcerated mothers need case management services and appropriate referrals as a result of exposure to substance abuse, domestic violence, and child abuse or neglect. Help is needed to navigate and access the limited economic assistance programs.

A mother’s arrest can mark the beginning of a downward turn in her capacity to provide for her children. Mothers may lose their employment while they are in jail and restitution ordered by the court may compound financial problems. Laws designed to keep crime out of public housing may not allow her to f return to low- income housing.

While incarcerated the prisoner is denied basic educational opportunities that would help in finding a stable job upon release. The denial of post-secondary educational opportunities to those incarcerated increases the probability of a return to incarceration. Having to check the felony record box on job applications makes it difficult to find stable supportive work. All of these together make the successful

transition back to society from incarceration a very difficult experience.

Hungerford, G.P. (1993). The Children of Inmate Mothers: Executive Summary, West Virginia

University School of Social Work

Johnston, D) Effects of Parental Incarceration, Pasadena, CA: Pacific Oaks Center for Children of Incarcerated Parents

Johnston, D. (1994), What we know about children of offenders, Corrections Network

Koban, L.A. (1983), Parents in prison: a comparative analysis of the effects of incarceration on the families of men and women. Research in Law, Deviance and Social Control, Corrections Network

A Tangled Web: Public Benefits, Grandparents, and Grandchildren, Washington, D.C.: AARP Public Policy Institute

Stanton, A (1980) When Mothers Go to Jail, Lexington, Massachusetts: Lexington Books

United States Department of Justice (1996) Correctional Populations in the United States, 1994 Washington, D.C. Bureau of Justice Statistics