Family Connections: The Importance of Prison Reading Programs for Incarcerated Parents and Their Children

Abstract

This article introduces a successful reading program, FamilyConnections, for incarcerated parents and their children. A comprehensive review of the literature supports the need to implement prison programs from an ecological perspective, in which the needs of inmates and their families are considered. More specifically, the benefits of directing resources toward the establishment of reading programs in prisons and jails for inmates and their children are discussed. The Family Connections program is aimed at improving inmates' parental skills and attributes. The article also includes the viewpoint of the commander of a sheriff's department detentions bureau, the perspective of the executive director of the nonprofit organization that operates the program, and the practical steps involved in implementing such a program.There are two primary reasons why adult correctional facilities offer special programs for incarcerated men and women. The first reason involves maintaining safety and control within the institution. Participation in programs is used as an incentive for inmates to maintain good behavior (e.g., Phelps, 2011). Also, when inmates remain motivated to participate in programs of interest, they are less likely to become bored and disruptive. The second reason has been the focus of considerable debate over the past few decades,

“‘It will crush you like a bug’: Maternal incarceration, secondary prisonization, and children’s visitation”

“…Our findings suggest, certainly in the short term, that visitation programs like MCVP have negative effects on children’s wellbeing and development. This finding is contradicted by research that suggests visitation is beneficial for children (Blumberg and Griffin, 2013; Block and Potthast, 1998; Snyder, 2009; Trice and Brewster, 2004), as well as some outcome research that shows maternal incarceration is largely inconsequential for children, particularly among those whose mothers are most likely to experience incarceration (Turney and Wildeman, 2015). There are several plausible reasons for this apparent contradiction.…”

I Feel Less Blue When I Read With You: The Effect of Reading Aloud With a Child on Adult Readers’ Affect

“…A myriad of research describes the benefits for children of regular high-quality shared reading even with caregivers outside the family (e.g., teachers, librarians, and volunteers). Shared reading promotes children's early language growth (Reese and Cox, 1999;Fitzgerald et al, 2018) and preliteracy skills (Foorman et al, 2002;Brown, 2014), assists children's socio-emotional development and communication skills (Bergin, 2001;Aram and Shapira, 2012), and helps establish a bond between caregivers and children (Blumberg and Griffin, 2013). Dialogic reading intervention where adult readers are encouraged to actively prompt children with story-related questions as they read-aloud have been repeatedly shown to improve the language comprehension, vocabulary, and print awareness among children who are read to by adult volunteers (e.g., Fitzgerald et al, 2018).…”

“…While shared reading supports children's early language development and socio-emotional development, research has also revealed that shared reading can help establish a bond between the child and the reader (Bus and van Ijzendoorn, 1997;Lariviere and Rennick, 2011;Blumberg and Griffin, 2013). Seden (2008) found that reading children's books with a child supports positive parent-child relationships for low-income and stressed parents by enhancing parents' abilities to tend to their child's needs and empathize with their child more deeply.…”

Schools as Surveilling Institutions? Paternal Incarceration, System Avoidance, and Parental Involvement in Schooling

“…For fathers who are currently incarcerated, physical confinement makes it impossible for them to participate in any school-based activities. Confinement also makes it quite difficult, although not impossible (see Lombardi 2004; Marte 2015), to engage in home-based types of schooling activities, such as helping with homework or reading with their children (e.g., during visitation or through prison family reading programs; Blumberg and Griffin 2013). Additionally, recent theories regarding formerly incarcerated populations provide insight into how a previous incarceration spell may affect parental involvement in schooling even after release.…”