Within a larger intervention study, attachment was assessed with the Strange Situation Procedure for 30 infants who co-resided with their mothers in a prison nursery. Sixty percent of infants were classified secure, 75% who co-resided a year or more and 43% who co-resided less than a year, all within the range of normative community samples. The year-long co-residing group had significantly more secure and fewer disorganized infants than predicted by their mothers' attachment status, measured by the Adult Attachment Interview, and a significantly greater proportion of secure infants than meta-analyzed community samples of mothers with low income, depression, or drug/alcohol abuse. Using intergenerational data collected with rigorous methods, this study provides the first evidence that mothers in a prison nursery setting can raise infants who are securely attached to them at rates comparable to healthy community children, even when the mother's own internal attachment representation has been categorized as insecure. Keywords infant attachment; prison nursery; incarceration; interventionResearch in two areas of inquiry, early development of the human brain and the process of infant attachment, support the proposition that every child needs a consistent and responsive primary caregiver, and that such a caregiver is especially critical during infancy and early childhood (Bowlby, 1982;Dawson, Ashman & Carver, 2000;Schore, 2001;Spitz, 1945Spitz, , 1956. Ainsworth, Blehar, Waters, and Wall (1978) extensively described infant attachments in a community, nonclinical sample, and from this foundation the focus of other researchers expanded to include higher-risk community and clinical groups. Insecure attachment is more prevalent in stressed than in non-stressed populations (Belsky & Fearon, 2008), and this observation has led to the development of interventions to improve the rate of secure attachment in at-risk populations (e.g., Bakermans-Kranenburg, van IJzendoorn, & Juffer, 2003;Cicchetti, Rogosch, & Toth, 2006;Hoffman, Marvin, Cooper, & Powell, 2006).A previously ignored group of children, many of whom are deprived of normal attachment experiences, has begun to attract research and policy attention: the children of incarcerated parents. Although much of the research has methodological limitations, findings of adverse effects on development generally converge and raise a significant public health concern (Hagen, Myers, & Mackintosh, 2005;Hanlon et al., 2007;Huebner & Gustafson, 2007 & Farrington, 2006;Poehlmann, 2005aPoehlmann, , 2005b. A small minority of children has been offered an alternative to early and abrupt separation from their imprisoned mothers. These are the infants of women sentenced in correctional jurisdictions that provide a co-residence nursery program. Prison nurseries remove separation created by maternal incarceration as a threat to a child's development, at least during early infancy, and are increasing in number in the U.S. (Goshin & Byrne, 2009; Women's Prison Association, 2009). Charac...

To limit the spread of the highly contagious COVID-19 virus, departments of corrections (DOCs) in all 50 states suspended in-person visits to state prisons between March 7 and March 19, 2020. This article describes changes to policies related to the contact incarcerated individuals could have with family members and others since the pandemic began. We also examine the clarity of the information presented to the public regarding COVID-19 testing and outbreaks in state prisons. The results show that DOCs quickly made free phone calls available to incarcerated individuals, although for how long this policy remained in place is unclear. The capacity for video visits during the pandemic was notably less; only 25 state DOCs had video visits in place before March 2020, and 16 of those reported adding free video visits with family members during the pandemic. A smaller proportion of states reported offering free email access (n ϭ 15) and free postage/stamps (n ϭ 10). Analysis of state DOCs' webpages showed variability in the range of information available about testing and outbreaks. The clarity of the information presented on DOCs' websites was associated with the total number of policy changes DOCs made related to other forms of contact with family members. States that made more policy changes had more accessible and informative data related to COVID-19 testing and prevalence on their webpages. These results have important implications for policy considerations related to incarcerated people's contact with their families as the pandemic continues and are discussed in light of pending legislation in the U.S. Senate.

We report attachment classifications in a sample of pregnant women incarcerated in a state prison with a nursery program. Analyses were based on 69 women serving sentences for felony crimes who were followed from the birth of their child to completion of the prison nursery co-residence. They completed the Adult Attachment Interview shortly after entering the program and scales measuring depression, perceived parenting competency, and social support at study entry (Time 1) and program completion (Time 2). Incarcerated mothers had higher rates of insecure attachment than previous low-risk community samples. Compared with dismissing and secure mothers, preoccupied mothers reported higher levels of depressive symptoms, lower parenting competency, and lower satisfaction with social support at the conclusion of the nursery program. Higher scores on unresolved loss and derogation were associated with a history of substance abuse; higher scores on unresolved trauma were associated with depressive symptoms at program completion. Keywords attachment; prison nursery; high-risk; depressive symptoms; parenting Establishment of a prison nursery is predicated on the fact that children benefit from sustained contact with their mothers throughout their early months of life (Goshin & Byrne, 2009). Attachment research suggests that a child's psychosocial outcomes are associated with the mother's internal working model of attachment (IWM) or attachment classification (e.g., van IJzendoorn, 1995). Therefore, the effectiveness of a prison nursery program may depend in part on the quality of the mother's IWM. As yet, however, nothing is known about the nature of attachment classifications of women participating in a prison nursery program. Further, although there is a substantial body of research linking adult attachment in the general population with various psychosocial correlates, links between attachment and other constructs have not been examined in samples of incarcerated women.Correspondence regarding this manuscript should be addressed to Mary W. Byrne, Ph.D., Stone Foundation and Elise Fish Professor of Clinical Health Care for the Underserved, Columbia University School of Nursing, 617 West 168 Street, New York, NY 10032; phone: (+212-305-3976); mwb4@columbia.edu. NIH Public Access Author ManuscriptAttach Hum Dev. Author manuscript; available in PMC 2011 July 1. NIH-PA Author ManuscriptNIH-PA Author Manuscript NIH-PA Author ManuscriptThe present study had three aims. The first aim was to describe the distribution of maternal attachment representations within a sample of incarcerated mothers who co-resided with their infants in a prison nursery. The second aim was to evaluate the association between maternal attachment classification and history of substance abuse in this sample. The third aim was to examine the longitudinal connection between maternal attachment organization and three psychosocial constructs related to adjustment and parenting: depressive symptoms, perceptions of parenting competency, and perceived ...

Internationally and historically unprecedented numbers of women in the United States are under criminal justice supervision in jails, prisons, and the community. Pregnant women and mothers with minor children comprise a large proportion of this population. The rise in criminal justice oversight and incarceration rates has differentially impacted a highly vulnerable population of women and children. This article outlines an international human rights perspective on the criminal justice involvement of pregnant women and mothers with minor children, and describes common and broadly accepted U.S. criminal justice practices in the areas of pregnancy, birth, and contact with children that differ from a rights-based approach. Using the United Nations-developed Bangkok Rules and existing research as a foundation, the authors conclude by advancing recommendations for more humane approaches to pregnant and parenting women and their children that would bring the United States more closely in line with international standards. This article capitalizes on the increased attention currently being placed on the U.S. criminal justice system to highlight continued problems and provide humane solutions that draw on international approaches while also fitting a U.S. context.

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Objective: To describe perinatal nurses’ experiences of caring for incarcerated women during pregnancy and the postpartum period; to assess their knowledge of the 2011 position statement Shackling Incarcerated Pregnant Women published by the Association of Women’s Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses (AWHONN); and to assess their knowledge of their states’ laws regulating nonmedical restraint use, or shackling, of incarcerated women. Design: Cross-sectional survey. Setting: Online across the United States. Participants: AWHONN members who self-identified as antepartum, intrapartum, postpartum, or mother-baby nurses (N = 923, 8.2% response rate). Methods: A link to an investigator-developed survey was e-mailed to eligible AWHONN members (N = 11,274) between July and September 2017. Results: A total of 74% (n = 690) of participants reported that they cared for incarcerated women during pregnancy or the postpartum period in hospital perinatal units. Of these, most (82.9%, n = 566) reported that their incarcerated patients were shackled sometimes to all of the time; only 9.7% reported ever feeling unsafe with incarcerated women who were pregnant. “Rule or protocol” was the most commonly endorsed reason for shackling. Only 17.0% (n = 157) of all participants knew about the AWHONN position statement, and 3% (n = 28) correctly identified the conditions under which shackling may ethically take place (risk of flight, harm to self, or harm to others). Only 7.4% (n = 68) of participants correctly identified whether their states had shackling laws. Conclusion: Our results suggest critical gaps in nurses’ knowledge of professional standards and protective laws regarding the care of incarcerated women during pregnancy. Our findings underscore an urgent need for primary and continuing nursing education in this area.

Objective To analyze three-year recidivism after release from a prison nursery, a secure unit that allows imprisoned women to care for their infants. Design and Sample Descriptive study of 139 women who co-resided with their infants between 2001–2007 in X prison nursery. Measurement Administrative criminal justice data were analyzed along with prospective study data on demographic, mental health, and prison nursery policy-related factors. Results Results reflect a sample of young women of color with histories of clinically significant depressive symptoms and substance dependence, who were convicted of nonviolent crimes and had multiple prior arrests. Three years after release 86.3% remained in the community. Only 4% of women returned to prison for new crimes. Survival modeling indicated that women who had previously violated parole had a significantly shorter mean return to prison time than those who were in the nursery for a new crime. Conclusion Women released from a prison nursery have a low likelihood of recidivism. Innovative interventions are needed to address incarceration’s public health effects. Nurses can partner with criminal justice organizations to develop, implement, and evaluate programs to ensure the health needs of criminal justice involved people and their families are met.

This study examined long-term outcomes of children who spent their first one to eighteen months in a US prison nursery. Behavioral development in 47 preschool children who lived in a prison nursery was compared with 64 children from a large national dataset who were separated from their mothers because of incarceration. Separation was associated with significantly worse anxious/depressed scores, even after controlling for risks in the caregiving environment. Findings suggest that prison nursery co-residence with developmental support confers some resilience in children who experience early maternal incarceration. Co-residence programs should be promoted as a best practice for incarcerated childbearing women.