Constitutional Rights of Infants and Toddlers to Have Opportunities to Form Secure Attachment with Incarcerate Mothers: Importance of Prison Nurseries

Abstract

While the number of women is increasing among the prison population, so too is the need to accommodate those who are pregnant and with children. Instead of examining the diminished rights of incarcerated mothers, this paper examines the rights of babies (infants and toddlers) to have opportunities to form a secure attachment with their incarcerated mother. This paper argues this right triggers the government"s affirmative duty to provide prison nurseries. This paper also seeks several aims that include an examination of the issue of prison nurseries, the need for such programs, their history, the constitutional rights of infants and toddlers to have opportunities to form secure attachment with their long-term caregiver, and the policy implications for women or female prisons.

Prison Nurseries: A Way to Reduce Recidivism

“…In contrast to the above arguments, Kanaboshi, Anderson, and Sira (2017) argue that “babies, not mothers, have a constitutional right to remain with their mothers while they are in prison.” This is based on the documented ill effects on children who are removed from their mothers and do not have the opportunity to bond and form attachments with them.…”

Working toward anti-racist perspectives in attachment theory, research, and practice

“…Similar arguments have invoked attachment theory to oppose xenophobic policies that separate families at the U.S.-Mexico border (see Bouza et al, 2018;Coan, 2018;Lieberman et al, 2018;Teicher, 2018) and to advocate for policies that interrupt parent-infant separation by allowing infants to bond with their incarcerated mothers (e.g. Kanaboshi et al, 2017). It is worth noting that White supremacist and colonialist powers have historically used family separation as a tool of oppression: Family separation was endemic to the slave trade (King, 2011;Smith, 2021), as well as to Native American boarding schools in the 19 th and 20 th centuries (Olson & Dombrowski, 2020;Pember, 2019).…”

Are custodial-based mothers and children's units evaluated, effective and aligned with a human rights-based approach? – a systematic review of the evidence

“…The impacts and suitability of correctional environments for children remains under-researched. 3 , 4 , 16 , 17 A correctional setting is primarily focused on the delivery of a custodial sentence for the offender and does not take into account trauma-informed design for women and their children. 18 This setting may not provide a sense of safety and well-being for children or offer sufficient access to resources to meet the needs of the child, nor may it be comparable to the life they would be experiencing outside a prison.…”