Assessing the deployment of informal support networks for mothers of incarcerated young men
| Published date | 01 November 2021 |
| DOI | 10.1177/1477370819884253 |
| Date | 01 November 2021 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
https://doi.org/10.1177/1477370819884253
European Journal of Criminology
© The Author(s) 2019
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DOI: 10.1177/1477370819884253
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Assessing the deployment
of informal support networks
for mothers of incarcerated
young men
Daniel McCarthy and Maria Adams
University of Surrey, UK
Abstract
The stigma and disruption caused by a close relative’s offending and imprisonment can impact
heavily on the informal support networks that caregivers commonly utilise to cope with the
aftermath of such events. In the study of family–prisoner relationships, scarce research has
examined how caregivers draw on informal support networks and the extent to which these
networks can facilitate various modes of support. This article focuses exclusively on mothers
(n = 37) related to adolescent/young adult men in prison. We analyse who caregivers turn to
after the offence, and the extent to which these networks operate as a means of delivering
emotional (and sometimes material) support. Our conclusions raise questions about the informal
support offered by family and friends, and offer suggestions on service responses to these issues.
Keywords
Family, incarceration, social support, youth offending
Introduction
Successive studies have argued that the support networks offered by family are key to
helping offenders desist from crime, as well as reducing the risks of prisoner recidivism
on release (Brunton-Smith and McCarthy, 2017; Cid and Martí, 2012; Laub et al., 1998).
Notwithstanding these positive roles delivered by family in desistance and re-entry path-
ways, questions remain about how family members themselves can feasibly cope with
the trauma of offending and incarceration, and the extent to which support can be
deployed not just to offenders but also within families as well. The extent to which fam-
ily members themselves have opportunities to gain support for those close to them can
have important impacts on their own personal lives, as well as on their capacities to cope
during these challenging times.
Corresponding author:
Daniel McCarthy, Department of Sociology, University of Surrey, Guildford, GU2 7XH, UK.
Email: d.mccarthy@surrey.ac.uk
884253EUC0010.1177/1477370819884253European Journal of CriminologyMcCarthy and Adams
research-article2019
Article
2021, Vol. 18(6) 799–816
Several scholars have raised questions as to whether caregivers have sufficient social
resources and support networks to allow them to cope with secondary incarceration, as
well as, commonly in the case of youth offending, a chain of offending and other adversi-
ties as well (Braman, 2004; Sturges and Hanrahan, 2011). Some caregivers can receive
positive emotional and material support during these periods of adversity, as well as hav-
ing greater social resources to cope (Black and Lobo, 2008; Patterson, 2002). For others,
additional factors can complicate the provision of support offered. Because primary
mothers are so often framed as responsible for the outcome of their children’s behaviour,
stigmatic reactions in the case of youth offending and imprisonment can be severe, espe-
cially towards mothers (Condry, 2007; Halsey and Deegan, 2015). These situations can
result in caregivers avoiding confiding in others for fear of betrayal, leading to a reliance
on a small circle of close associates (see, for example, Braman, 2004). Because prison-
ers’ families are often poor and experience other hardships besides having a relative in
prison (Arditti, 2012; Wakefield and Wildeman, 2014), informal support networks may
be either small in size or weak in resources as a result of these prior hardships (see, for
example, Desmond, 2012; Mazelis, 2016).
Accordingly, this article examines informal support in close familial and friendship
networks following youth offending and incarceration. We focus the analysis principally
on mothers (n = 37) whose sons were incarcerated at the time of interview. Through
often challenging relationships with these young men, we can, at times, witness a cumu-
lative set of hardships stemming from these parenting roles, in the years both preceding
and succeeding incarceration (Sturges and Hanrahan, 2011; McCarthy and Adams,
2018). Subsequently, the investment in, and commitment to, supporting these young men
up to and beyond the prison sentence can induce a personal cost in terms of ties with
family and friends. In this article, we address the following questions: Following offend-
ing and incarceration of the young men, to what extent can networks of support from
family and friends provide opportunities for mothers to cope with these events? What
factors are associated with those mothers receiving/not receiving varying types of sup-
port? And can the disruption to the lives of mothers be explained by incarceration or by
prior processes associated with offending and other adversities?
The social effects and implications of family support
The role of support networks comprising family and friends has been widely attributed
to be a factor helping individuals overcome adversity, including coping with the emo-
tional upheaval caused by these events. Social support can act as a ‘stress buffer’ (Cohen
and McKay 1984; Koeske and Koeske, 1990; Walsh, 2002), helping people overcome
their struggles through either direct support or indirect recognition that there are others
they can turn to. Significant negative events can also act as a ‘test’ of social support net-
works – where either reaching out to (that is, from the person/s harmed to friends and
family) or reaching in (that is, friends and family respond to the person/s), or a combina-
tion thereof (see Helgeson and Lopez, 2010). However, in the case of caregivers dealing
with the consequences of youth offending and incarceration, there are both considerable
complexities in the availability of support networks to turn to and doubts about the posi-
tive qualities of support emerging from these ties.
800 European Journal of Criminology 18(6)
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