The Impact of a Correctional-based Parenting Program in Strengthening Parenting Skills of Incarcerated Mothers

Abstract

Despite a relative paucity of information on the impact that incarceration of a parent has on a child, most literature agrees that the effects are real and profound. Corrective Services NSW (CSNSW) in conjunction with Tresillian Family Care Centres introduced a parenting program, Mothering at a Distance (MAAD), across correctional facilities for female prisoners in New South Wales (NSW), Australia. The central aim of the Program was to provide early parenting education and support intervention to mothers in custody, with the aim of guarding against the intergenerational cycle of crime. The Program intended to enhance a prisoner's ability to provide appropriate and sensitive parenting and reduce the emotional and social impact of separation on their children. An evaluation of the Program's development, implementation, effectiveness, and sustainability was conducted on all groups run between October 2006 and December 2008. This article provides a summary of the evaluation findings. * Victoria Perry is the Research and Information Manager with Corporate Research, Evaluation and Statistics (CRES), Corrective Services NSW (CSNSW) and has a research background in child and family psychology, family conflict and child abduction. Cathrine Fowler is a child and family health nurse and is the Professor for the Tresillian Chair in Child and Family Health Nursing. She has extensive experience working with parents and their young children. Kyleigh Heggie is the Assistant Director (CRES), CSNSW and has an extensive research background in criminological and penological research. Karen Barbara is a Research Officer (CRES), in CSNSW and has a background in information and communication.

Supporting imprisoned mothers and their children

“…This limits the benefits of parenting programmes as well as our understanding of their impact. This is also noted by Perry et al (2011) in their recent evaluation of a parenting programme in New South Wales women's prisons. Whilst some benefits were described such as an increase in knowledge of child development and child appropriate discipline and communication strategies, the authors recommended cautious interpretation of the findings, given that the outcomes were based on mothers' self reports, not observation of motherÀchild interactions, and there was a poor response rate at post-release follow up.…”

Parenting While Incarcerated: Tailoring the Strengthening Families Program for use with jailed mothers

“…This is notably higher than in prison-based interventions, where the attrition rate due to transfer or early release has been reported as one-third (Eddy et al, 2013) to one-half (Sandifer, 2008) of participants. Intervention dropout rates in studies of mothers in prison also range from about one-third (although only half of mothers completed follow-up evaluations; Perry et al, 2010) to one-half (Loper & Tuerk, 2010), but the number of participants released or transferred prior to the end of the intervention was not reported in these studies. In the current study, 58% of women were successfully contacted for post-test assessments, with 9 of these 22 assessments conducted outside of the jail setting.…”

“…The agency delivers programming for children, caregivers, and families at their site and facilitates visitation at the county jail where PWI was implemented. Such connection with the families of inmates is likely important for the ultimate success of jail-based parenting and other rehabilitation programs, as such programs may be more effective when there is a child visitation or family connection element, in addition to parent education alone (Loper et al, 2009; Perry et al, 2010; Poehlmann et al, 2008). More broadly, an organization located in the same community as the jail can help to manage the many logistical details that arise for families when a mother is incarcerated, such as alternate child care arrangements and new school enrollment.…”

“…Second, as in prison, mothers are separated from children. Research on parenting programs in correctional settings (Block & Potthast, 2001; Perry, Fowler, Heggie, & Barbara, 2010) as well as on the outside (Kaminski, Valle, Filene, & Boyle, 2008) suggests that programs are most effective when they include a practice component. Yet, child visits can be stressful for mothers (Loper et al, 2009) and benefits of visitation may vary with child age (Burgess & Flynn, 2013).…”

“Learning to become a better man”: Insights from a fathering programme for incarcerated Indigenous men

“…Incarcerated parents have often been subjected to inappropriate parenting themselves and may have limited experience of effective and nurturing parenting styles (Perry et al. ). Incarcerated Indigenous men report experiencing parental incarceration and out‐of‐home care as children (30.8% and 46% respectively) more frequently than non‐Indigenous counterparts (11.7% and 21.7%) (Indig et al.…”