Mothering While Imprisoned: The Effects of Family and Child Dynamics on Mothering Attitudes

Stringer, Ebonie Cunningham; Barnes, Sandra L.

doi:10.1111/j.1741-3729.2011.00696.x

Cited by 19 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…Gurusami () found that formerly incarcerated mothers, who faced various obstacles in resuming daily parenting, were under constant pressure to prove to state agencies—social workers and parole or probation officers—that they were fit to have custody of their children. Stringer and Barnes () found that regular contact with their children through letter writing and phone calls helps imprisoned mothers maintain positive views about their role as a parent. More research should investigate parenting strain while in prison and what helps alleviate it.…”

Section: Parenting Minor Children In Social Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

Parenthood and Well‐Being: A Decade in Review

Nomaguchi

Milkie

2020

J of Marriage and Family

364

363

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Understanding social aspects of parental well‐being is vital because parents' welfare has implications not only for the parents themselves but also for child development, fertility, and the overall health of a society. This article provides a critical review of scholarship on parenthood and well‐being in advanced economies published from 2010 to 2019. It focuses on the role of social, economic, cultural, and institutional contexts of parenting in influencing adult well‐being. The authors identify major themes, achievements, and challenges and organize the review around the demands‐rewards perspective and two other theoretical frameworks: the stress process model and the life course perspective. The analysis shows that rising economic insecurities and inequalities and a diffusion of intensive parenting ideology were major social contexts of parenting in the 2010s. Scholarship linking parenting contexts and parental well‐being illuminated how stressors related to providing and caring for children could unjustly burden some parents, especially mothers, those with fewer socioeconomic resources, and those with marginalized statuses. In that vein, researchers continued to emphasize how stressors diverged by parents' socioeconomic status, gender, and partnership status, with new attention to strains experienced by racial/ethnic minority, immigrant, and sexual minority parents. Scholars' comparisons of parents' positions in various countries expanded, enhancing knowledge regarding specific policy supports that allow parents to thrive. Articulating future research within a stress process model framework, the authors show vibrant theoretical pathways, including conceptualizing potential parental social supports at multiple levels, attending to the intersection of multiple social locations of parents, and renewing attention to local contextual factors and parenting life stages.

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Section: Parenting Minor Children In Social Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

Parenthood and Well‐Being: A Decade in Review

Nomaguchi

Milkie

2020

J of Marriage and Family

364

363

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…The physical distance, paired with economic deprivation and the complexity of caretaking relationships for the children of incarcerated mothers, means that very few mothers receive regular visits from their children. For mothers who do receive visits, frequent and flexible communication with children is associated with decreased emotional and psychological distress, as well as decreased parenting stress (Aiello, 2016;Houck & Loper, 2002;Stringer & Barnes, 2012).…”

Section: Mothering While Incarceratedmentioning

confidence: 99%

‘I took care of my kids’: mothering while incarcerated

2020

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Background: Little is known about how incarcerated mothers make meaning of their parenting role and relationship with their children prior to incarceration and during custody. The aims of this project were to explore the experiences of mothering prior to incarceration and during custody using the Gendered Pathways Perspective and to examine how mothering intersects with incarcerated women's health and health outcomes to facilitate prevention and intervention strategies. This secondary data analysis used qualitative methods and grounded theory to identify themes related to mothering from 41 incarcerated mothers. Analyses were conducted by two independent coders, each of whom interviewed women as part of the primary study. Results: Identified themes highlight how mothers sacrificed their own health and wellness in order to parent their children, sometimes foregoing substance use disorder treatment because they had no childcare options. Additionally, incarcerated mothers described the psychological distress of family separation and asked for additional parenting programs to increase mother-child connection. Finally, mothers suggested that capitalizing on the mothering role might be a potent mechanism for change, especially as related to substance use disorder treatment. Conclusions: Research on incarcerated parents often focuses on their children, which obscures incarcerated mothers' needs related to health and wellness. The prison environment offers few opportunities to foster motherchild connection; most mothers never receive even one visit from their children. Incarcerated mothers contextually framed crime as protecting and providing for children and identified community-based and in-prison service gaps. Recommendations include infusing mothering and caretaking responsibilities into the sentencing process and exploring the intersection of race, gender, class, and mothering status on criminalized behavior. Additionally, there is an urgent need to expand the availability of community-based and in-prison programs that allow women to address health concerns while mothering their children.

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“…CJ involvement may compound rather than improve health and social vulnerabilities, such that upon reentry women continue to struggle with mental health issues, substance use, family violence, and lack of resources, while also working to resume at least some level of care for their children (Arditti & Few, 2006). Within this context of cumulative disadvantage and family instability, substantial proportions of incarcerated mothers report commitment to their mothering identities and plans to reunify with their children (Enos, 2001; Ferraro & Moe, 2003; Richie, 2001; Stringer & Barnes, 2012). It is unclear from the current body of research in this area how many women do go on to resume care for their children after release from a correctional facility.…”

Section: Multigenerational Effects Of Maternal Incarcerationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ethnographic assessment of an alternative to incarceration for women with minor children.

Goshin¹

2015

American Journal of Orthopsychiatry

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Allowing criminal justice-involved women to remain with their children in the community may decrease some of the negative intergenerational effects of incarceration. Little is known about potential program models to safely support community co-residence in this population. Ethnographic methods were used to explore the historical development of and life within a supportive housing alternative to incarceration (ATI) program for women with minor children and how they impact the health and social needs of resident families. Participants included 8 current and former adult tenant, 12 of the their resident children, 3 program staff, the program administrator, and 5 prosecutors who originally conceptualized it. Women also reported information about their 8 non-resident children. Analysis revealed three major themes: “The Cycle,” “This is My Home,” and “This Doesn’t Go With That.” While the program built on a core value of family preservation, results illustrate that keeping families together is only the beginning. Clinical and research implications for co-residence ATI programs are discussed in relation to the uniqueness of this context and population.

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Mothering While Imprisoned: The Effects of Family and Child Dynamics on Mothering Attitudes

Cited by 19 publications

References 37 publications

Parenthood and Well‐Being: A Decade in Review

Parenthood and Well‐Being: A Decade in Review

‘I took care of my kids’: mothering while incarcerated

Ethnographic assessment of an alternative to incarceration for women with minor children.

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