ipl-logo

Mother's Identity In Prison Essay

688 Words3 Pages

Factors affecting a mother’s identity in prison and its impacts
There are factors that can affect a mother’s identity in prison and one of which is the prison environment. Longer sentences, harsher prison conditions along with pressure that has been created by overpopulation and budget cuts, threatens the existence of treatment and reform-oriented prisons and that it would eventually swing back to disciplinary model prisons (Clark, 1995). Despite of the punitive and inappropriate acts in prison those mothers have been experiencing, many of them take advantage of the self-help, educational, vocational, and various parenting programs that would be essential for their change and self-development and would give them opportunities to redefine themselves …show more content…

All of the things that prisoners will be doing are controlled by correctional officers and adult’s roles and responsibility has been taken away from them. Inmates cannot be trusted with too much of responsibility because they’re in prison to be corrected and to learn to accept authority (Clark, 1995). At some point, because of the tradition and current practice of treating mothers in prison as wayward children (Burkhart, 1973; Carlen, 1985; Chesney-Lind & Rodriguez, 1983; Dobash, Dobash & Gutteridge, 1986) they’ve become like kids on playground; yelling at each other, giggling, horse playing and these “kids” are mothers with children of their own (Clark, 1995). The Prison which represented by officers, staff, and administration act as “Parent” which impose rules and sanctions which may result to negative self-representations and impulses that can re-create some of the same problematic family and interpersonal dynamics mothers had experienced. Furthermore, this has been significant given the large percentage of women and mothers in prison reported experiences of physical, sexual, and emotional abuse (Grossman, 1985), Moreover, according to Sykes (1958), many have noted that prison, with its great number of annoying rules, develops a society of rule breakers and antiauthority norms and values. Mothers in prison live with deep guilt (Baunach, 1985; Lundberg et al., 1975) both for

Show More
Related

Summary Of Terrance Bogan's Being Mommy Behind Bars

1497 Words | 6 Pages

Granting children, the right to visit their incarcerated mothers is a contentious topic with both sides having strong claims and counterclaims. Terrance Bogans does an outstanding job in his essay, “Being Mommy Behind Bars: The Psychological Benefits of Child Visitation with Incarcerated Mothers” addressing why children should be allowed to visit their incarcerated mothers, citing many reasons and using many argumentative components. Bogans has an explicit thesis in the conclusion “Child visitation must be increased in order to alleviate the psychological strains that take place during incarceration” (15). Bogans uses this clearly stated thesis to tell his main point and to address his opposition. The author’s purpose is to convince readers that children and incarcerated mothers have a right to see each other and no one should stop that.

Read More

Women Voters Case Study

68 Words | 1 Pages

The league of Women Voters and the DAlton Junior Women’s club open up at shelter in 1978. The first facility was at a First Baptist Church the doors to the shelter open in 1980. Betty Higgins was the director in 1980 she retired not to long ago and now Katora Printup is the director. I also found that the crisis center has outreach for Murray and Gordon

Read More

Burning Down The House Summary

610 Words | 3 Pages

Not only does Berstein call for an overall reform of this nation’s juvenile prisons, she goes as far as saying the practice of locking up youth is in need of a “more profound than incremental and partial reform” (13). The fact that Bernstein outlines the numerous failed strategies and goals of this practice with her compelling use of studies and statistics is enough to promote an audience to reject the practice of locking up youth. The statistic she shares that “four out of five juvenile parolees [will be] back behind bars within three years of release” as well as the studies she conducted on numerous instances when a guards abuse of power lead to the death of a child work to further prove her point: being that “institution[s] as intrinsically destructive as the juvenile prison” have no place in a modern society (13, 83). Bernstein refutes this false sense effectiveness further by sharing her own ideas on what she believes works as a much more humane solution to rehabilitating

Read More

Character Analysis: Orange Is The New Black

806 Words | 4 Pages

Furthermore, these families who took custody of toddler and teenagers also had a hard time guiding them on the bus, train, and taxis. Trips to the Correctional Facility was a burden for families, causing them not too visit whomever was incarcerated. For the women who are incarcerated families can be a source of support when serving their term in prison. For example, piper describes when families went to visit in prison women were extremely happy to have seen all of them (Kerman, 2011). Having the support from family can help and motivate the individual while in

Read More

The Theme Of Racism In Bryan Stevenson's Autobiography, Just Mercy '

878 Words | 4 Pages

These examples clearly show the mistreatment and mishandling of prisoners and knowledgeable children endured while serving their sentences. In conclusion, inmates were not properly cared for in

Read More

Jail Is Sinking Families

304 Words | 2 Pages

The article “Jail Is Sinking Families into Poverty, and Women Pay the Most” discusses the situation of Carla Gonzales, who is a part of a study of 300 families who are dealing with the crippling debt associated with their loved ones’ criminal convictions and incarcerations, and her family after the incarceration of her brother. Many of these families, especially the women, go into extreme debt trying to pay for lawyer fees, court fees, costs of prison visitations, and basic necessities (commissary items and phone calls) for the individual incarcerated. This debt also affects inmates after they are released as they often rely on their families, who are themselves sometimes evicted or denied housing, to find work and housing. Alicia Walters,

Read More

Angela Davis Are Prisons Obsolete Analysis

1191 Words | 5 Pages

Davis specifies that the lack of accountability for inappropriate behavior is caused by faulty administrative action as she explains, “Grievance or investigatory procedures, where they exist, are often ineffectual...” (78). Since women’s prisons were established, sexual abuse has been used as a form of punishment, although this is not formally acknowledged by prison officials, it is undeniable that women’s prison staff more than oftentimes engage in sexual

Read More

Mass Incarceration Mission Statement

3158 Words | 13 Pages

Young and Smith (2000) write, "Children of imprisoned mothers are growing but an understudied group who have experienced significant disruptions" (p. 131). The effects of parental incarceration on children are multidimensional, and often the absence of a parent due to incarceration is only one issue faced by this population. The restructuring of love and belonging will need to develop if the physiological and safety needs are substantially met. Children with unique circumstances who have a parent in jail may contend with feelings such as anxiety, shame, sadness, grief, and guilt. Crucial to this endeavor is to help children through this stage before they look for love and belonging by engaging in risky behaviors, such as developing negative relationships or joining a gang.

Read More

Incarcerated Women In Prisons

1300 Words | 6 Pages

A 2006 study supported the notion that greater exposure to childhood adverse situations were associated with behavioral problems as well as mental health problems (Daniel, 2007). Incarcerated women have a higher incidence of mental health disorders than the general population. For example, 12 percent of females in the general population have symptoms of a mental health disorder compared to 73 percent of females in state prison, 61 percent in federal prisons, and 75 percent in local jails (Daniel, 2007). Most incarcerated women do not receive treatment or assistance for these problems and are unlikely to meet goals of mental stability without the help of prison resources. Incarcerated women who have a mental health issue are unlikely to benefit from treatment programs so they usually don’t even bother because studies have shown the women who did receive treatment still engaged in behaviors that led to incarceration, implying that the current treatment programs are not

Read More

Effects Of Incarceration On Families

520 Words | 3 Pages

Children need to feel secure and loved and need supervision and guidance. If a parent cannot be present to care for and look after their children, it can cause the child to feel afraid and they may act out or behave in ways that they would not if the parent were living with them. Several studies have found that a significant number of children of incarcerated parents struggle with a variety of childhood problems that have long term implications for adult adjustment (Kjellstrand, 2012). Even if children visit parents in while they are incarcerated, the physical and emotional distance can become a strain on their relationship. I think more should be done to encourage courts to take families into consideration in sentencing and correctional facilities should have better resources for incarcerated parents to maintain healthy relationships with their children.

Read More

Father Being In Prison Essay

1389 Words | 6 Pages

This research task will be focusing on the issues of how children deal with the effects of their father being in prison and how this may be affecting their education. This is an important concept as children find it difficult when there is a problem for them to face. I will be analysing how a child and a parent will be affected because of their spouse in Prison. I will be analysing six sources to see what researches have said and what they predict. For a child who is experiencing separation as one of their parent has gone to prison, is a difficult time as they have not been away from one of their parent before.

Read More

Prison Reform Research Paper

989 Words | 4 Pages

In order to do this they need to make new centers to help prisoners inside better themselves. In Alabama prisons may soon shut down 14 of its prisons for overcrowding, neglect, and violence in the state’s correction systems. In the prison St. Clair Holman in Alabama the prison system makes prisoners act different. There is no safety, security or supervision. “We have people being killed, sexually assaulted, raped, stabbed on daily basis at St. Clair, Holman, and multiple facilities; it’s a systemwide problem,” said Charlotte Morrison, a senior attorney at the Equal Justice Initiative (EJI), which represents Alabama prisoner.”

Read More

Essay On Pacifiers

1081 Words | 5 Pages

Q:I've heard many opinions in regards to newborns and pacifiers. Is it OK to give one, and if so, at what age? A: All babies have a natural desire to suck and pacifiers can often be great tools to aid them. When used properly, pacifiers can help comfort a baby or simply give him the opportunity to suck when he is not actually hungry.

Read More

Essay On Gender Issues In Prison

1002 Words | 5 Pages

In prison, women face two major problems: drug abuse and mental health issues. Drug abuse issues exist in prison; since most of the sentencing that goes on in America is drug user-related, it is only logical that the problem of drug abuse and drug users would be concentrated in prison. A statistic from the American Psychology Association claims that, “75 percent of women met the criteria for substance abuse problems,” (Clark). This is a problem in prison hospitals and trained staff are lacking in order to help women with their drug addictions,

Read More

Persuasive Speech: Life After Prison

1252 Words | 6 Pages

Specific Purpose Statement: To invite my audience to see the different viewpoints involved with life after prison in the U.S. Thesis: Those who were once in incarceration live with the title of being a former convict the rest of their life. I wish to explore their lives after incarceration and I hope to find the differing opinions some of you may have on those that have re-joined our community. Pattern of Organization: Multiple Perspective Pattern Introduction [Attention-Getter] How would you feel knowing you were standing behind a convict in line at a grocery store?

Read More

More about Mother's Identity In Prison Essay

Related Topics

Open Document