Families of Prisoners Week Three

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St. Clair College *

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PSW209

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Sociology

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Feb 20, 2024

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Families of Prisoners CRIM 2619H 2024 WINTER SEM Week Three Notes  Module 3: Pregnant and Parenting in Prison o Overview  Most incarcerated women are mothers and commonly, the primary caregiver  Research highlights negative effects for both mothers and their children when they are separated due to the mother being incarcerated.  In 2001, the Mother-Child Program was implemented in correctional facilities in Canada  Mothers can apply to have their children live with them in federal facilities (there are five women’s institutions and a healing lodge ).  Some children up to the age of 4 years old live with their mothers full-time at the facility while others who are ages 5 and 6 years participate on a part-time basis and have prolonged visits on weekends and/or holidays.  A 2014 study by Sarah Brennan found that participation had been relatively low since its implementation.  Why? Elizabeth Fry Societies cited overcrowding and a punitive environment rather than one of healing and rehabilitation.  In 2000-2001 there were 375 women in federal institutions,12 used the Mother-Child Program. The number of women incarcerated has almost doubled, but the program is still low.  There are two relevant UN documents to keep in mind while considering the topic of pregnancy and being an incarcerated mother:  International Minimum Standards for the treatment of women prisoners set out in a document known as the Bangkok Rules . o Rule #2 reads: “Prior to or on admission, women with caretaking responsibilities for children shall be permitted to make arrangements for those children, including the possibility of a reasonable suspension of detention, taking into account the best interests of the children.”  United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child o Implies that children have a right to maintain in contact with an imprisoned parent unless it is in the best interests of the child to be separated. o Learning Objectives  Examine challenges of being pregnant in prison.  Examine the role stigma plays in separating newborns from their mothers immediately after birth.

 Examine how stigma and bias can shape the ways in which incarcerated pregnant women as well as mothers are treated.  Examine the Mother-Child Program within Correctional Service Canada and critique its current status in general terms. o Lecture Video  o Reading: Franco, C., E. Mowers, and D.L. Lewis (2020) Equitable Care for Pregnant Incarcerated Women: Infant Contact After Birth—A Human Right , Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health, 52(4), 211–215.  The United States has the highest incarceration rate globally, with over two million people imprisoned.  Why it matters : It is estimated that 3-4% of women who are incarcerated are pregnant when they enter prison. This issue is not only gendered but it is also raced and classed. Black women are incarcerated at twice the rate of White women. In addition, stigma against incarcerated persons still exists and ideas about ‘worthiness’ and ‘dangerousness’ of an incarcerated mother affect the care they receive.  For those who are incarcerated, there are increased chances of pre-mature births and delivering infants with low birth weight.  Inconsistent and biased practice :  Many mothers have a few days in the hospital with their babies. Some are separated from their newborn immediately after the birth. o “Practitioners in the field report that practices range from immediate forced removal, to deliberate separation in the hospital with limited supervised contact, to full support of the mother–infant dyad with rooming-in and breastfeeding support” (212). o Over 20% of incarcerated women giving birth were forcibly separated from their newborns for nonmedical reasons between 2010 and 2019.  Some states have prison nursery programs, but they are the exception.  Prisons, historically designed for men, lack consideration for the parental responsibilities of women, perpetuating trauma-inducing conditions.  Individual Bias and Institutional Norms :

 Stereotypes about incarcerated individuals contribute to biased practices, including the assumption that incarcerated mothers are more likely to harm their newborns.  Prohibiting infant contact based on a mother's history with Child Protective Services (CPS) is deemed problematic and inequitable.  Benefits and risks to infant :  The importance of skin-to-skin contact and routine contact between mothers and infants is supported by medical organizations.  Infants separated from their mothers may experience increased irritability, behavioral dysregulation, and inferior mother–infant bonds.  Benefits and risks to the mother :  Immediate skin-to-skin contact with newborns also benefits the mothers as they report decreased symptoms of postpartum depression, it facilitates breastfeeding and milk supply, releases oxytocin for pain relief, reduces bleeding, and decreases the risk of pp hemorrhaging  The way forward :  Health care practitioners should advocate for national guidelines opposing immediate separation of incarcerated mothers and neonates for nonmedical reasons  Local hospitals, in collaboration with correctional staff, should develop evidence-based, humane, and equitable policies for skin- to-skin care and contact between mothers and infants.  Health care practitioners must recognize and address biase and advocate for fair and equitable treatment.  Education and efforts to change harmful practices are essential. o Reading: Paynter, M., C. Heggie, L. Matheson, C. Rillie, D. Beals, and M. Bray (2022) Maternal incarceration in a provincial prison in Canada: A qualitative study , Journal of Advanced Nursing , 1-16.  This qualitative study of maternal incarceration was conducted in Nova Scotia. It consists of individual interviews and one focus group with 18 participants (one of whom identifies as non-binary) who had lived experience of incarceration. A higher proportion of incarcerated women than incarcerated men report being a parent.  The study is built on feminist standpoint theory and prison abolition critiques.  There is a lack of research on the conditions of incarcerated women in Canada. To date, much research

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on the effects of having an incarcerated parent is based on studies in the United States.  The following themes and sub-themes emerged:  Maintaining Connection : Visits are traumatizing as they’re not designed with children in mind; visitation cannot be improved without drastic changes to the area (such as a kid-friendly space without correctional officers watching); phone calls are gold and participants believe these should be free.  Broken Bonds : Separation causes stress; child coping mechanisms – the separation can be quite traumatizing for some – many participants felt their children bore the burden of their incarceration; most participants were lone parents and had few custody options for their children while incarcerated.  The Damage : Disempowerment inside as there is less autonomy to deal with the harms; there are barriers to getting help and services while incarcerated and many are released with little to nothing.  The research findings are mixed on the effects of visitation on children in the long term. There is some evidence it can be detrimental for children but beneficial for mothers. It may be that the setting is a significant factor for this negative effect and recommendations have been made for ‘child friendly’ spaces.  Separation from children during incarceration causes severe emotional distress and had serious implications on their right to parent and their relationships with their children. Detrimental social impacts occur even when the mother is only incarcerated for a brief period.  The authors provide some recommendations for reform such as free phone calls, however, they target alternatives to incarceration for mothers experiencing criminalization.  Concerning visitation, they state: “From our findings we cannot recommend allocating resources to the development of mother–child visitation program at Central Nova Scotia Correctional Facility as it currently exists” o Reading :  The current Mother-Child Program guidelines have been in effect since January 24, 2020  Definition of the Mother-Child Program : “ a continuum of services and supports which aims to foster positive relationships between mothers incarcerated in women offender institutions and units and their child and to

provide a supportive environment that promotes stability and continuity for the mother-child relationship."  Its purpose : “To foster positive relationships between federally incarcerated mothers and their child, by keeping them together where appropriate, and providing a supportive environment that promotes stability and continuity for the mother-child relationship.  There are eligibility criteria including “there is no current assessment from a mental health professional indicating that the mother is incapable of caring for their child due to a documented mental health condition of the child or the mother."  The program provides inmates can be employed as babysitters . Eligibility criteria include that they do not have a criminal history of an offence against a child. o Video: School of Population and Public Health (SPPH) (originally published Fall 2015) Bonding through bars: New guidelines for mother-child prison units put interests of child first  “This video is one of the outcomes of the 2013 International Research Roundtable, “Bonding Through Bars”, held at the Peter Wall Institute at UBC. Through testimonials from former prison inmates and from their children, Roundtable participants advocate for keeping mothers and their children together."  Research shows that keeping babies behind bars with their mothers is far better than separation and foster care. There was agreement on this from the BC Supreme Court (in Inglis v Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General of BC ) in 2013 and it added that forced separation violates children’s constitutional rights.  The relationship between unmet health and social needs to criminalization and incarceration. Following this, the challenges that children often experience when separated from their mothers.  How difficult visitations can be for both the mothers and children. This dynamic is referenced in Reading #2 by Paynter et al .  When a parent is incarcerated, the level of empathy for a child is not nearly the same as it would be for someone who had experienced a death in the family. o Quiz 1. According to Christine Franco, Erika Mowers and Deborah Landis Lewis (Reading #1), in the absence of cause or evidence to support that a newborn is in immediate danger, what does the forced separation of a mother from her

newborn reflect? Answer: It reflects conscious or unconscious bias against those who are imprisoned 2. What does the research find in general about the experience of visitation for both family members and incarcerated mothers? Answer: IN general, it finds they can be traumatic 3. According to the Correctional Service Canada, what is the purpose of the Mother-Child Program? Answer: To foster positive relationships between federally incarcerated mothers and their children, keep them together where appropriate, and promote stability and continuity for the mother-child relationship 4. According to Franco, Mowers, and Lewis (Reading #1), what does the separate of a mother from her newborn amount to? Answer: Cruel and unusual punishment 5. What do Paynter et al. (Reading #2) recommend in terms of the mother–child visitation program at Central Nova Scotia Correctional Facility as it currently exists? Answer: Not allocating any funds to the visitation program Discussion:  Being a mom from behind bars is challenging at best. Research on this issue provides that we need to put the best interests of the child first (see Bonding Through Bars from 2015) and we know that for incarcerated moms: “separation from their children during incarceration caused severe emotional distress and had serious implications on their right to parent and their relationships with their children.” (Reading #2 in this module).  With these two sets of findings in mind, what might set us on the path toward putting the best interests of the child first? If you wish, you’re welcome to offer examples from the readings in this module.

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Families of Prisoners Week Three

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