“Living with life”: Experiences of families of people serving a life sentence in Western Australia
| Published date | 01 June 2024 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/26338076231214554 |
| Author | Hilde Tubex,Natalie Gately |
| Date | 01 June 2024 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
“Living with life”: Experiences
of families of people serving a
life sentence in Western
Australia
Hilde Tubex
Law School, University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia
Natalie Gately
School of Arts and Humanities, Edith Cowan University, Joondalup,
Australia
Abstract
This paper contributes to the growing body of scholarship related to the impact of imprison-
ment on families, from the particular perspec tive of parents, siblings and other close relatives
of people serving a life sentence. We argue that those family members are often overlooked in
research and service provision, while bearing the burden of the association with the offender.
This is particularly problematic for relatives of life sentenced prisoners, having to cope with
the seriousness of the offence, and the uncertainty of the perspectives of release. Based on
17 interviews conducted in Western Australia, we discuss family members’confrontation
with and experiences throughout the criminal justice system. We report on how they manage
to “live with life”and which coping mechanisms they developed. Our findings call for more
investment into the matter, to generate a scholarship for a better understanding of and sup-
porting initiatives for those close relatives.
Keywords
Life imprisonment, prisoners’families, prison, parole, indeterminate sentences
Date received: 23 June 2023; accepted: 1 November 2023
Corresponding author:
Hilde Tubex, Law School, University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia.
Email: hilde.tubex@uwa.edu.au
Article
Journal of Criminology
2024, Vol. 57(2) 203–220
© The Author(s) 2023
Article reuse guidelines:
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DOI: 10.1177/26338076231214554
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Introduction
While there is a growing body of research and literature on the impact of imprisonment on fam-
ilies (Condry & Scharff Smith, 2018), looking at recent scholarship in this area, we notice a
specific focus on partners of prisoners (De Claire et al., 2020; Kotova, 2015), their children
and the impact of intergenerational trauma (Arditti, 2016; Besemer et al., 2019; Halsey &
De Vel-Palumbo, 2020; Minson, 2020; Saunders, 2018; Sharratt et al., 2018). There is
limited scholarship on other family members, such as parents and siblings, how they experience
the confrontation with the criminal justice system and how it affects them (McCarthy & Adams,
2019). Jardine (2020) refers in that respect to “families of origin”–instead of “families of for-
mation”. The lack of focus on parents is remarkable, as it has been recognised that parents are
more likely to maintain contact with imprisoned children, with the continued care most likely to
fall on mothers (Adams & McCarthy, 2022; Gueta, 2018). Further, adult parental relationships
with children differ considerably to spousal relationships due to their nature, roles, dynamics
and expectations (McCarthy & Adams, 2019). Therefore, while some experiences may be gen-
eralisable from partner literature, the extent to which they apply to the family of origin, and how
the confrontation with the criminal justice system influences their everyday lives, remains
largely unknown.
In addition, most of the current research explores finite sentences. The impact of imprison-
ment carries an extra dimension when the family member is sentenced to a life sentence, as we
are looking at a very long stretch of detention and without the perspective of a final date for
release. As a result, many romantic relationships do not “survive”the life imprisonment
(Kotova, 2015), while the family of origin (parental/sibling) relationship endures and
becomes pivotal in supporting the person in prison and after release. This is particularly the
case for younger offenders who are less likely to have established stable intimate relationships
and tend to rely on parents and siblings (Adams & McCarthy, 2022). We therefore argue that,
particularly in the case of life sentences, the family of origin is a crucial “resource”and at the
same time overlooked and unsupported.
The situation is even more pertinent in Western Australia, as the Sentence Administration
Act 2003 (WA) determines that, even if the Prisoners Review Board makes a recommendation
to release a prisoner to parole, the final decision is made by the Governor in consultation with
the Executive Council, on the recommendation of the Minister. This is not the case in other
Australian jurisdictions, except for the Australian Capital Territory, as the relevant parole
authority is usually the final arbiter of the decision-making process. As there are about 300 life-
sentenced people in Western Australian prisons –this is about 30% of all lifers in Australia –a
multiplication of that number in family members are hereby affected. In an earlier paper, we
argued how the present regulation is problematic and in urgent need of review (see Seah
et al., 2022). In this article, we explore the broader impact of life imprisonment on parents, sib-
lings and other close relatives.
The “Living with Life”project arose from the initiative of some life-sentenced prisoners and
their parents, contacting us to support their case for parole reform for life-sentenced prisoners in
Western Australia. To better assist these families, we turned to the literature for advice, which is
when the lack of scholarly information became apparent. Therefore, we embarked on this
exploratory, unfunded research project, in both an attempt to fill a gap in scholarship and to
contribute to penal reform. The research aims to increase awareness for the experiences of fam-
ilies of origin with life-sentenced relatives and to provide an insight into their needs.
204 Journal of Criminology 57(2)
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