Maternal Mediation in the Context of Fathers' Incarceration and Reentry

Abstract

ObjectiveWe sought to develop grounded theory regarding how mothers who share children with an incarcerated father mediate between men and their offspring.BackgroundMothers' mediation can be situated at the intersection of their motherwork and their prison work. Motherwork (Collins, 1994) refers to the paid and unpaid labor that mothers on the margins do to support their families and foster their children's survival. Prison work (Codd, 2007) involves the invisible labor of supporting persons during their incarceration and reentry. A focus on maternal mediation as a proximal process that bears on justice‐involved families acknowledges the inherent tension between these domains.MethodWe conducted a secondary analysis of interview data from 16 Australian mothers who had at least one child whose father had a history of incarceration.ResultsWe identified four patterns of maternal mediation: facilitation, monitoring, constraint, and disengagement. These types connected to aspects of women's motherwork, as well as the intensity of their efforts to support children's fathers.ConclusionMediation is a form of women's prison‐motherwork, which reflects complex and shifting strategies that are influenced by children's developmental needs and preferences, mothers' feelings about children's fathers and their importance in children's lives, and time.ImplicationsWomen would benefit from having specialized support and counseling throughout their partner's (or former partner's) carceral confinement and reentry.

Contact experiences and needs of children of prisoners before and during COVID‐19: Findings from an Australian survey

“…Currently, little is done by correctional services to support carers. Arditti et al ( 2021 ), based on their research with women carers, suggest that counselling or psychological support, provided by services with specialist knowledge of the justice system, may assist mothers in negotiating relationships and bolster their well‐being and that of their children. It may also aid caregivers in making decisions around the type of contact that is most beneficial for the children in their care and how to support children during periods when that contact is unavailable.…”

“…Additionally, strained family relationships, and hostility between ex-partners, may result in carers not being willing to bring children to visit-gatekeeping parent-child contact (Tasca, 2016). More recent research (Arditti et al, 2021) has highlighted the complexity and shifting nature of these relationships, and how mothers in particular are actively engaged in both motherwork and prisonwork, making decisions which balance protecting children and supporting the incarcerated person. Beckmeyer and Arditti (2014, p. 130) described face-to-face, inperson visits as the 'most proximal form of contact' for families.…”

Women at the margins: Experiences with spousal incarceration in India

“…A framework that may be particularly relevant to understand the augmented responsibilities of wives in the context of motherhood, subsequent to spousal incarceration is prison‐motherwork (Arditti et al, 2021). Based on a sample of 16 Australian mothers whose children's father was incarcerated, Arditti et al (2021) advanced a prison‐motherwork framework to conceptualize the intersection between women's efforts to ensure their children's care and the invisible labor undertaken to support their incarcerated family members during their partners' incarceration and reentry. Challenges of prison‐motherwork included the difficulties of navigating visiting at correctional facilities and the evolving experience of ensuring a continued presence of fathers in children's lives while also prioritizing the wellbeing of their children.…”

“…For example, home visits could potentially dilute the ways in which Indian wives may have begun to enjoy a limited degree of economic freedom after being able to enter the job market for the first time subsequent to the incarceration of their spouse. Secondary prisonization presents a paradox as the women are oppressed by their prison motherwork (i.e., supporting the incarcerated spouse and meeting the needs of children; Arditti et al, 2021), yet women also strive to do family even in highly constrained and monitored environments (at prison and home).…”

“…While families and women who experience spousal incarceration have been the focus of recent scholarly investigation in the western industrialized countries (e.g., Arditti et al, 2021; Comfort, 2008), the same is not true for most developing nations. Vastly distinctive cultural realities between high‐income, industrialized nations, often referred to as the “Global North,” and developing nations referred to as the “Global South,” contribute to the need for theory and research specific to the challenges of familial incarceration in politically and culturally marginalized low‐income regions of the world that lie outside Europe and North America (Dados & Connell, 2012).…”