Children Visiting Mothers in Prison: The Effects on Mothers' Behaviour and Disciplinary Adjustment
| Author | Karen Casey-Acevedo,Tim Bakken,Adria Karle |
| Published date | 01 December 2004 |
| Date | 01 December 2004 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1375/acri.37.3.418 |
418 THE AUSTRALIAN AND NEW ZEALAND JOURNAL OF CRIMINOLOGY
VOLUME 37 NUMBER 3 2004 PP.418–430
Children Visiting Mothers in Prison:
The Effects on Mothers’ Behaviour
and Disciplinary Adjustment
Karen Casey-Acevedo,Tim Bakken and Adria Karle
Lynn University, Florida,USA
This article examines 158 inmate mothers released from a maximum
security prison to determine the influence of minor children’s visita-
tion on their mothers’ disciplinary adjustment in prison. Logistic regres-
sion analysis was used to predict the mothers’ involvement in disciplinary
behaviour. Although up to 80% of female inmates have minor children,
the findings indicate that the majority of the mothers do not receive
visits from them. The inmates who do receive visits from their minor
children are more likely to engage in both serious and violent infractions
while in prison. It appears that mothers who receive visits from their
children have more difficulty adjusting to institutionalisation, perhaps
because of the emotional factors surrounding visitation and separation
from children. However, it is possible that the visitation with their
children while imprisoned may help prepare mothers for life upon parole
and reunification with their families and children.
The incarceration of women who are mothers raises several important issues about
the effects of forced separation on women and their children. Between 65% and
80% of the women in prisons are mothers of minor children (Greenfield & Snell,
1999; Morash, Bynum, & Koons, 1998; Moses, 1995). This article addresses the
influence of minor children’s visitation on their mothers’ institutional behaviour.
The hypothesis is that women who receive visits from their minor children will
be less likely to engage in disciplinary behaviour while incarcerated. Holt and
Miller (1972) found that inmates who maintained contact with family members
were less likely to engage in disciplinary infractions, although other research
indicated no relationship between outside contact and institutional adjustment
(Lembo, 1969). However, other researchers again found a relationship between
visitation and violent behaviour in prison (Ellis, Grasmick, & Gilman, 1974). All
of this conflicting prior research focused on males and their contact with wives and
adult family members and did not consider contact with children. This article and
the study on which it is based focuses solely on children who visit their mothers.
Address for correspondence: Associate Professor Karen Casey-Acevedo, Director of Criminal
Justice, Lynn University, 3601 N. Military Trail, Boca Raton, Florida. Email: KCasey@lynn.edu
Crim 37.3-text-final 10/1/04 4:08 PM Page 418
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