The Hidden Victims: Children Of Women In Prison
by Jeff Gearhart
In Michigan and across the U.S. incarceration rates for women have been increasing at an alarming rate. For example, in Michigan the imprisonment rate for women quadrupled over a 15-year period, increasing from 142 in 1970 to 483 in 1985, while the imprisonment rate for men less than doubled, increasing from 4,967 to 7,283 over the same period. In Michigan there are currently over 1,500 women in prison including approximately 400 at the Huron Valley Correctional Facility. An unrepresentative percentage of these women are Black women, who in 1985 composed 72% of the female prison population.
Similar trends exist on a national level. A result of this increase in the number of women incarcerated is that increasing numbers of children are being separated from their mothers (the majority of which are single, separated, widowed, or divorced), and being left behind with little financial or emotional support.
In response to the problems these children face, the Children's Visitation Program was begun in Oct. 1988 by Dr. Christina José of the U-M Women Studies Department and a group of imprisoned mothers and staff at the Huron Valley Correctional Facility in Ypsilanti. One inmate told José, "Many people forget that when a crime is committed, there is more than one victim. Our acts and convictions have left our children motherless, and we need to do everything in our power to maintain a closeness so that our children will not be totally abandoned." The direction and control of the program is determined by the mothers. The prison provides one room for the visits. This fall the group is expanding the program from the 40 mothers already involved to allow participation by any incarcerated mother at the prison.
It is calculated that up to 80% of the children of women imprisoned in the U.S. are dependent on the mother as the primary caretaker and 65-80% of the children are under the age of twelve.
In a 1989 study by José it was estimated that as many as 80% of dependent children whose mothers are sent to jail witness the arrest. According to José, when women are arrested and their children are not home at the time of the arrest, many police officers do not ask the women if they have any children. Even if they are asked, she said, there is seldom any attention given to critical arrangements needed for childcare. The most common arrangement for children once their mother is in prison is for them to be integrated into an extended family situation usually involving grandmothers or relatives. Five out of the seven children José interviewed in the study had changed homes at least twice while their mothers were incarcerated.
In addition to suffering a sudden separation, most of these children will not be able to see their mothers for months. This is because jails are often far away and caretakers can be reluctant to arrange visits. Some county jails ban visits for children under 14, and most allow only non-contact visits. In many ways the children become homeless as they move from home to home and relative to relative.
Studies have shown that parental incarceration is related to emotional and behavioral problems in children, both at home and at school. According to two recent studies of youth in custody, over 50% of the boys and girls in custody had an immediate family member in prison. Children who have witnessed violent arrests or who have had their mothers simply "disappear" into the prison system have been documented to have developed a variety of disorders as a result of their loss. Children often report feelings of depression, anger, guilt, fear, flashbacks, and the experience of hearing their mothers' voices. These types of symptoms are commonly associated with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), symptoms of which include intrusive re-experiencing of a traumatic event leading to a reduced involvement in the external world and the development of a variety of other disorders.
In 1988 the Children's Visitation Program grew out of incarcerated mothers' concern about being separated from their children and their desire to play a positive role in their children's lives. The basic design for the program was developed by José and implemented with the help of prison mothers and community supporters. "After I did my dissertation," said José in a recent interview, "I realized the tremendous needs of the children of mothers in prison. They are also victims of the system and they do time with their mothers except they do it on the outside."
The Children's Visitation Program has served about 70 children and 40 mothers. The program allows children to come on a visit one Saturday each month. The visit lasts about three hours and takes place in the regular visiting room which is converted into a play area for these special occasions. Aside from group activities such as singing and story reading at the beginning and end of the visit, mothers and their children are free to spend their time however they choose. Toys and games, along with art, reading and other educational materials are provided. Families who want to talk can go to a quiet corner. "The environment for the visit," said José, "is designed to be child-centered, to foster intimacy between the mother and child, and to reduce stress on the mother and child."
The visits assure that the mother and child get to spend time alone (for the first time in most cases) since the mother came to prison. During regular visits minors are required to be accompanied by another adult; the mothers must make sure that the children do not run around the room or visit with other people or children; and uniformed guards are always present. One child told José: "Without a guard there telling us what to do and looking at us all of the time, it's just like we were ordinary mothers and children playing together and having a good time."
Volunteers are greatly needed to take responsibility for getting one child to the prison for their visit and back home one Saturday a month. To get involved call Wendy at 996-0253 or Christina at 747-0773.