Effects of Women Incarceration on Young Children Essay

Number of women putting in prison has increased drastically in recent decades. Approximately 600,000 women were incarcerated in 1990. This number has increased to more than one million in 2000. Though women are less likely to get imprisonment, the rate of their imprisonment is rising drastically (Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2001). Majority of women put in prison are mothers. Families of incarcerated women are badly affected and face challenges such mental illness, poverty, substance abuse and child abuse. Sometimes, permanent changes in children of incarcerated women take place even when their mother has returned home. Such children lose the hope of having their mother for the rest of life with them. They think that their mother will go to jail sooner or later (Greene & Hurtado 2000). Children of incarcerated mother are subjected to go through troubles in their adolescence. Such children may commit a crime, may involve in substance abuse, mental illness may be profound in them, may leave schools in their early life and may receive inappropriate adult care. Criminal behavior of mothers brings damaging effects in children. They are badly affected when they see their mother arrested and put in prison (Young & Carrie 2000). This paper provides information about the effects of women incarceration on young children. Different age groups of children are taken into consideration and the effect of their mother’s incarceration on them is discussed in detail. This paper describes how children try to cope up with the incarceration of their mothers. Changes in policies are required and this paper recommends such changes to provide support to such children and to keep them away from the harm. Effect of Women Incarceration on Young Children Majority of the incarcerated women are mothers. The effects of mother’s incarceration on young children are not much known. Such children are not considered when their mothers are put in prison. Researchers, policy makers, communities and service providers do not think about the affected children and thus, nothing is being done for the well-being of those children. Children at different development stages are affected to a different extent. Infants and toddlers are affected in a different manner, where as, pre-schoolers, school-aged children and adolescents are affected in entirely different manner to a different extent (McClellan 1994). Impact of Mother’s Incarceration on Infants and Toddlers Babies are not able to understand the imprisonment of their mothers but people around them come under stress due to the incarceration of the baby’s mother. Such stressed people’s behavior tells the babies that something wrong has happened. The stress period begins when the mother is arrested, put in prison and the stress continues even after the mother’s return. Care givers do not take care of the babies the way a mother can do. Such babies do not receive breast feeding that is essential for their growth. Their routines are badly disrupted. Infants and toddlers are more likely to receive neglecting and abusive care. They are most likely to receive very less capacity to regulate them. They have to face severe stress that is often imposed by their family. They may also have to face poverty. Children of this age group are not able to understand the arrest and imprisonment of their mothers. Some children of this age group forget their mothers and become attached to the caregiver. So, the bond between mother and the child will be broken for ever. When children of this age group are taken to penal settings, they are unable to understand why they cannot touch their moms though their moms are in front of them (Marcus-Mendoza 2001). Impact of Mother’s Incarceration on Pre-Schoolers Pre-schoolers’ age ranges from three to five years. Children under this age group need the development of skills that are essential for them to get success in their academics and society. Individuality seems to be prominent and such children need to live independent life. Discipline development is essential at this stage and certain routines need to be set at this age. Children under this age group are also not able to understand much about the incarceration of their mother but they can catch the feelings by the notions of people surrounding them (Greene & Hurtado 2000). Children’s limited understanding power does not let them connect crime with imprisonment and thus they simply tend to focus on the results of the incarceration. For example, they start disliking the police just because their mother was taken away. They do not like judges because they are responsible for putting their mothers in jails. Sometimes, such children start disliking their mothers because they think that their mother has done something wrong. They need time to settle their minds again to have the same picture of their mother as they had before; the mother who was used to take good care of them. Children under such circumstances usually consider the criminal justice system quite unjust and they consider them as the victims of the criminal justice system (Hagan 1996). Impact of Mother’s Incarceration on School-Aged Children When children come to an age between 6 to 12 years, they become more aware of them and people. Their thinking abilities are enhanced and concepts about rights and wrongs become clearer to them. Such children begin to establish relations with their caregivers and go away from their mothers. In fact, such children should be able to rationalize that their mother is a good person. This can be done when the image of their mother is portrayed to them in a positive manner. They tend to justify that the acts of their mother were quite fair and the criminal justice system has been unfair to them or they may even complain of a biased behavior. Such behavioral developments in children of this age group are quite alarming as criminal behavior may also be developed in such children (Fejes & Miller 2002). Children of this age group do not share this bitter reality of their life with others. They hide as their weak point. Thus, they are less likely to receive any kind of support from others such as teachers, and care takers. They tend to minimize socialization. Aggressive behavior may also develop in such children and they feel difficulty in putting their efforts in their education resulting in more absences (Feldman et al. 1999). Development of Criminal Behavior in Young Children of Incarcerated Women Children of incarcerated women may develop criminal behavior. Following are some factors that determine the likelihood of criminal behavior. Coping Strategies Children of all ages go through extremely hurtful situations. They begin to implement coping strategies to get out of the awkward situations resulting from their mother’s incarceration. They begin to suffer from anxiety, feelings of shame and anger and financial problems. They begin to deny the reality, show aggressive behavior, blame themselves, get involved in substance and alcohol abuse and find ways to escape from the situation by running away. These strategies may benefit kids on temporary basis but they leave long lasting bad effects. These issues may lead to criminal behavior (Casey-Acevedo 2002). Giving Good Reasons This is another strategy that children of incarcerated mothers use to portray their mothers as very good persons. They do so to hide the reality of their mothers. They deny the fact that their mother had committed a crime and that is why she was sent to prison. They justify their mother’s position by insisting that people saying bad words about their mother are indeed bad themselves. They even begin to justify the crime committed by their mother. They insist that crime may be permissible in certain circumstances such as they justify that stealing is a right act if done to provide clothing and food for family. They consider themselves and their mother as a victim of situations such as poverty that had forced their mother to commit a crime. Criminal justice system seems unfair in their eyes. As a result, anti-social behavior begins to develop in such children (Feldman et al. 1999). Poverty Usually incarcerated mother had been the finance provider for children. Incarceration of mother results in lack of funds. They do not get proper nutrition and basic things that are the rights to get by all children. As children face poverty, they consider stealing as permissible and thus commit crimes to fulfill their needs. They want to get the things that children living with their mothers usually get; proper nutrition, good clothing, education, healthy environment etc. The absence of such facilities fosters the likelihood to commit a crime (Greene & Hurtado 2000). Absence of Adult Guidance When mother is sent to prison, children do not receive any guidance and supervision from an adult any more. Adults know better how to guide young children so that they become a part of a safer environment. The absence of adult supervision make children suffer and struggle in society and school. They stop going to school, face difficulties in their jobs, and get involved in relationships that exploit or abuse them. They may get involved in drug culture and even in the sex trade (Gabel & Shindledecker 1993). Strategies for the Minimization of Harm There is a great need to implement strategies that can minimize the harm posed to the children of incarcerated women. Following are some useful strategies to combat this issue: Mothers Should Not Be Incarcerated There is a need to keep the whole family together and for this purpose the mothers should not be incarcerated. In case they commit a crime, there should be some alternatives in place of incarceration. Community based interventions should be implemented. The threat of imprisonment will lead towards betterment. Conditional sentencing will not require any imprisonment and justice system will accomplish the goals that were expected to be obtained from the incarceration of women. Training should be provided to important professional groups Educators, child protection workers, mental health professionals should be trained in a way to support the children of incarcerated mothers. They should be able to explain the children about the connection of crime to punishment. Children should be taught about rights and wrongs. School attendance should be encouraged. Caregivers should be trained in a way to provide the children of incarcerated mothers the best nurturing environment. The visits of children to their mothers should be supervised and motivated in positive manners. Conclusion Children of incarcerated women are at a greatest risk of being traumatized and get involved in criminal behavior. Their personalities are badly affected due to the absence of their mother in the time of their needs. Caregivers are not providing the required care. Criminality of women can be reduced by using effective strategies. Children of incarcerated women should be given under the supervision of an adult to help them grow in a safer environment. Strategies to cope up with the bitter reality of their mother’s incarceration should be implemented in a positive way. Schools and society should be encouraged to help such children instead of making fun of them or taunting them. Good neighbors can also play good roles. Children should be provided with the basic facilities that are essential for nurturing them. Mothers with offensive background should be provided with the support to get reasonable jobs to fulfill their basic needs. This way the crime rate among women can be minimized. Society should let such women improve their criminal behavior by motivating them to quit their crimes. Such women should be appreciated to do meaningful activities that can help them become mentally healthy. Children should never be taken away from the children due to incarceration.