Mothers in Prison
(Excerpt from op-e article published in the News Journal, December 2001)
By Valerie Hans, Ph.D., a former member of the News Journal Community Advisory Board and current DCJ Board member. Dr. Hans is a Professor of Criminal Justice and Psychology in the Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice at the University of Delaware.
Having a mother behind bars is becoming more common. The number of women in jails and prisons has surged over the past two decades. Twenty-five years ago, a woman's incarceration was relatively rare. The vast majority of women offenders were then, (as they) are now, convicted of drug or property crimes, not violent crimes. Because many women posed to public safety or flight risk, they often received probation, (were given) community-based alternatives to imprisonment, and continued to raise their children. However, a convergence of new criminal justice policies, including the war on drugs…and minimum mandatory sentences, hit women offenders particularly hard, leading to dramatic increases in women in prison.
For women in jails and prisons, having children is the rule rather than the exception. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, about two-thirds of incarcerated women have children. Of course, many male offenders have children, too. When fathers are incarcerated, their wives and girlfriends generally care for the children, but he reverse is not the case. The children of incarcerated women more typically go with extended family members or enter foster care.
What can we do about kids with mom in prison? In my view, the best interests of the children should e paramount….
Let's rethink what to do about nonviolent women offenders. Minimum mandatory sentences set my legislatures don't allow a judge to tailor individual sentences to take special circumstances into account. Do we want to use our scarce resources to pay Baylor's room and board for nonviolent women offenders, when the ripple effects of their incarceration produce a new generation of social problems in their children?
In some circumstances, incarceration is required. For women offenders who are mothers, we need to expand programs that emphasize the development and practice of parenting skills that help them succeed. That's not only good for the kids, it's also good for the mother.
A special case can be made for developing a mother-baby program either at Bailer or in a community setting. Critical periods for neurological development and emotional attachment make it essential for newborns and infants to have a consistent and close relationship with a responsive caregiver. Superior Court Judge Susan Del Pesco and others have worked to develop a mother-baby program for women offenders in Delaware. The Department of Correction Female Offender Master Plan, completed in 2000, recommended mother-child programs. These programs can be cost-effective. In other jurisdictions, they have reduced recidivism.
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