The majority of people in America’s prisons are the parents of minor children. Incarcerated mothers, in particular, were likely to have been a part of their children’s lives before their imprisonment, and most will soon be returning to the community and to their children. Research has shown that it is in the best interests of the mothers and the children to maintain a relationship across the prison bars. In this article, we use the example of New York State to show how institutional policies and structures can impede or encourage efforts to maintain ties between women and their children and why demonstrating support for family ties must extend well beyond having visiting hours.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.