Supporting incarcerated mothers in Ireland with their familial relationships; a case for the revival of the social work role
| DOI | 10.1177/0264550516648393 |
| Published date | 01 September 2016 |
| Author | Sinead O’Malley,Carmel Devaney |
| Date | 01 September 2016 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Article
Supporting
incarcerated mothers
in Ireland with their
familial relationships;
a case for the revival
of the social work role
Sinead O’ Malley
National University of Ireland, Ireland
Carmel Devaney
National University of Ireland, Ireland
Abstract
All families need both formal and informal supports throughout their life course.
Parents relationships with their children need to be promoted, supported and main-
tained. For parents living with their children and acting as their primary carer this role,
although fulfilling, is filled with challenges. At particular points in time and for a variety
of reasons parents need to be supported in carrying out this role, striving towards
healthy family functioning. For parents where there are additional stressors associated
with their relationship with their children. The impact of this can be significant and far
reaching for all involved. Incarcerated mothers and their children face particular
difficulties in maintaining their relationships and for mothers to ‘perform’ a mothering
role. Throughout the stages of childhood, family breakdown and separation from their
mother is a traumatic experience for children. This paper considers the current pro-
vision within the Irish Prison System for supporting incarcerated mothers in their efforts
to maintain relationships with their children and wider family members and highlights
the deficits within this. This paper argues the case for reviving the role of supportive
social work practitioners to work alongside incarcerated mothers in an effort to retain
Corresponding Author:
Sinead O’Malley, Doctoral Researcher, UNESCO Child and Family Research Centre, School of Political
Science and Sociology, National University of Ireland, Galway, Ireland.
Email: sinead.omalley@nuigalway.ie
Probation Journal
2016, Vol. 63(3) 293–309
ªThe Author(s) 2016
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DOI: 10.1177/0264550516648393
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The Journal of Community and Criminal Justice
and realise their parental rights and duties and to maintain relationships with their
children.
Keywords
mothers, imprisonment, children, social work, human rights, practitioners
Introduction
The very nature of imprisonment is containment and loss of liberty, but this does not
strip people of their basic rights (Herrick, 2009; ICCL/IPS, 2012). Incarcerated
mothers in the majority of instances therefore retain their parental rights, her chil-
dren retain their rights and the family unit retains its right to a family life. This paper
considers if these rights are realised in practice. In Ireland, this task is primarily
managed by national legislation and policy and is influenced by European and
International human rights and best practice treaties. In 2014, the Irish Government
acknowledged the need for gender-specific responses to female offenders, which
resulted in the recent debates on non-custodial sentences being enforced. However,
there are significant gaps in supportive services for mothers and children affected by
incarceration owing to the lack of a social work role within the Irish Prison System.
This paper explores the needs of incarcerated mothers in Ireland with regard to their
familial relationships and the need for a supportive practitioner role within the
prison system.
Mothers, their children and imprisonment
The Irish Constitution (1937), a fundamental instrument for the protection of rights
and the basis for all legislation outlines the family in Article 41.1 as one of the most
significant and protected institutions and highlights its role as a key influence and
provider of welfare. Within this is a recognition of a woman’s life and role within the
home and that a mother is not obliged to work outside of the home for fear of
neglecting such duties, thus providing an ideological representation of Irish
motherhood. In cases where parents fail in parental duties Article 42 provides that
the State will then consume this role (Baldwin et al., 2015; Ryan-Mangan, 2014;
O’Malley, 2013). Furthermore, the right to family life as outlined in Article 8 of the
European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR, 2010) remains protected for pris-
oners. Donson and Parkes (2012) highlight how the European Court on Human
Rights has ruled on many occasions the right to family is a key provision to prisoner
visitation rights, obligating States to assist prisoners in maintaining contact with their
families. While Article 8 applies to adults and children alike, cases are pre-
dominately considered from a prisoner rights perspective and the rights of the child
to family life and visitation are rarely considered (Ibid). In response children’s rights
(UNCRC, 1989) discourse relating to the incarceration of a primary carer, which is
a mother in the vast majority of cases, has become very topical.
294 Probation Journal 63(3)
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