‘Poor prison flowers’: convict mothers and their children in Ireland, 1853–1900

Abstract

Pregnant women and mothers were among the thousands of individuals who were sentenced to at least three years' penal servitude and admitted to the nineteenth-century Irish female convict prison. While some babies were born behind bars, others were permitted to accompany their convicted mothers into the prison after the penal practice of transportation had ceased. Other dependent children were separated from their convicted mothers for years, cared for by family members or friends, or accommodated in Ireland's growing web of institutions. Using individual case studies, this paper focuses on convict mothers and their young offspring. It draws attention to the increasing restrictions on the admission of infants that were imposed as the nineteenth century progressed, the problems that children of various ages in the penal system seemed to pose for officials, and the difficulties faced by incarcerated mothers who wished to maintain communication with their offspring. This article argues that while there were benefits to parenting within the confines of the prison, sentences of penal servitude had a significant impact on the lives of dependent offspring by dislocating families, separating siblings, or initiating institutional or other care that broke familial bonds permanently. In so doing, the article reveals attitudes towards motherhood as well as female criminality and institutionalisation generally during this period and sheds light on an aspect of convict life unique to the women's prison.

Imprisoned mothers in Victorian England, 1853–1900: Motherhood, identity and the convict prison

“…Overall the impact of imprisonment on the majority of imprisoned women was one of fracture and disruption to their identity as mothers and to their children’s lives. Motherhood was not just regulated or controlled by the disciplinary convict prison, as Farrell (2016) and Rafter (1985) have argued with regard to prison nurseries in the United States and in Ireland; it was absent and unattainable. While the female prison regime was constructed around returning criminal women to ‘normal’ womanhood and femininity, at its centre lay a striking contradiction, as motherhood was not a trait to which they were encouraged to aspire (Zedner, 1994).…”

“…Separation from children and a lack of knowledge about them caused mothers in prison considerable anxiety and stress. Women used local prisons and workhouses for short-term care during pregnancy and childbirth (Farrell, 2016), but the convict prison did not offer such benefits as longer periods of separation between mother and child were inevitable. Many imprisoned mothers were lone parents, through death or illegitimacy, and their children were often institutionalized in their absence.…”

“…Record linkage revealed detailed information about the lives of female convicts in custody and outside prison; allowing insight into the onset and cessation of offending, prison or other custodial experiences, family or support mechanisms and renewal or creation of interpersonal relationships during offending, or after release. This article was also prompted by Farrell's (2016) recent research on convict mothers in Ireland, though as will be demonstrated, the system in England and Wales was quite different to the smaller system in Ireland.…”

“…This was to ensure that children born in prison were not ‘tainted’ by this association (Hobhouse and Brockway, 1922). Those administering local prisons found women with babies problematic; it was argued that the full force of the disciplinary regime or ‘reform’ could not be implemented (Farrell, 2016); that they needed to talk to their babies, undermining the system of silence; and that they ‘cooed’ over them and attracted the attention of other female inmates (Forsythe, 1993; Zedner, 1994). Some county benches simply told the magistrates not to send any more pregnant women to prison (Johnston, 2015).…”

Panggung Drama Pendapatan Narapidana

“…Penjelasan pernyataan tersebut se jalan dengan hasil penelitian Farrell (2016) dan King (2018) bahwa individu narapidana mempunyai perhitungan keuangan sendiri. Perhitungan ini menjadi modal dalam me nerima fasilitas lebih dalam keterbatasan kehidupan lapas.…”