Children Affected by Mothers in Prison

According the the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, an estimated two million children in the United States have a parent in prison. Seventy percent of mothers in prison are the primary caregivers for their children. A number of studies show that children of incarcerated mothers suffer numerous emotional, psychological, and social consequences that have detrimental long term effects on their development and behavior.

Effects on Infants

• The incarceration of the mother of a newborn infant has long term effects on the child. The incarceration interrupts the emotional bonding process. Studies show that the interruption of the bonding process has detrimental effects for the emotional, cognitive, and physical development of the infant. It also prevents the mother from bonding completely with the child. This emotional detachment can permanently affect the mother-child relationship.

Emotional and Psychological Consequences

• The trauma of an incarcerated mother begins with the mother's arrest and removal from the home. Children of an incarcerated mother suffer a variety of emotional and psychological effects such as fear, anxiety, sadness, depression and anger. Research shows that the psychological and emotional damage has detrimental effects on normal childhood development such as diminished cognitive abilities, poor peer relationships, attachment issues, and general feelings of uncertainty.

School Consequences

• School-aged children have to deal with the social stigma of a having a mother in prison. This produces a feeling of shame and disgrace. The mother is unable to be involved in the school life of the child. Children are forced to deal with teasing and being ostracized by their peers. Emotional withdrawal from teachers and classmates, diminished performance, failure, school delinquency, suspension, and high dropout rates are all typical of school-aged children with an incarcerated mother.

Behavioral Problems

• Children of incarcerated mothers are at higher risk for dangerous types of behavior that may eventually lead to their own incarceration. Risky and dangerous behavior includes drug and alcohol abuse, eating disorders, violence and aggression, sexual promiscuity and pregnancy, conflicts with police and criminal behavior.