'We all went to Prison': The Distress of Prisoners' Children
| Date | 01 September 1987 |
| Author | Valerie Pope |
| DOI | 10.1177/026455058703400304 |
| Published date | 01 September 1987 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
’We all went to Prison’: The
Distress of Prisoners’ Children
Valerie Pope
Educational Therapist, Child Guidance Clinic, Chelmsford
The pain and problems of children with a parent in prison is
conveniently avoided and forgotten, unless they become
particularly disturbed. Using two children’s experience as
indicative of widespread need, the author challenges the penal
system to take their need seriously and provide humane and
sensitive resources to minimize damage.
Little has been written specifically on
groups, but otherwise sat morosely in class.
prisoners’ families and even less on the children
Before his father was sentenced to 5 years’
of prisoners. Thus, the Nottingham Prisoners’
imprisonment for armed robbery, Ben had
Families Project in the early 1970’s did not
enjoyed a good relationship with him. Ben had
produce the anticipated information on
been devastated by his father’s sudden
prisoners’ children, because, it seems, unless a
disappearance from the home and his life. His
parent declares that a child has a problem, the
mother decided not to tell the children that their
child is assumed to be coping. Leonard Davisl
father was in prison and had fabricated a story
has suggested that the dearth of public
that he was working in a school a long way from
information about the children of prisoners is not
home.
accidental, but both convenient and necessary,
because those who uphold the prevailing legal
Knowing the Truth
and penal ideology can not afford to consider
Research by Morris2 indicated that 40 % of
what happens to prisoners’ children. Any
children with an imprisoned parent do not know
recognition of a problem would strike at the very
their father is in prison, or, at least, have not been
notions and core of ’justice’, ’innocence’ and
officially told. In reality, children often sense the
’guilt’ upon which our penal ideology is founded.
truth and then have to face the mother’s fake
The concept of individual punishment for
explanation, which can be seen as another
individual law breaking collapses as children
personal rejection. The child is forced to accept
become caught up in ’the web of punishment’.
mother’s duplicity and has no outlet for
In family conflict, it is not always easy to pick
expressing shared grief and frustration. Ben’s
the victim -
except the children, who
are always
mother had requested at referral that he should
the victims. This seemed to apply to the two
not be informed directly of his father’s true
children from separate families with whom I
whereabouts, but realised that this situation
have been involved in educational therapy
would change as we progressed in therapy
sessions. Their responses to their fathers’ being
sessions.
in prison may help to draw some attention to the
At the first session, Ben played with the ’Bendy
important needs of children of prisoners.
Families’ in the sand. He
selected all the children
and buried them in one comer
of the sand tray. he
BEN
then collected all the male figures and buried
Ben was a 6 year old, referred because of
these, head first, in the sand, commenting to me,
withdrawn behaviour at school, plus a failure to
’I’m going to bury him in the sand.’ He turned
make any academic progress. He was unable to
and said, ’My daddy’s a long way away, but not
write his name and was a non-reader. Ben spoke
that far away.’ He continued with this pattern of
very little at school and teachers were unable to
sand play for several weeks and, at the fourth
motivate him in any activity. Socially, he was
session, he chuckled to himself as he placed the
accepted by his peers and involved in playground
figures head first in the sand. He began to talk
92
about the family pet dog which had been ’lent’ to
they were tired and grubby and miserable. The
some
other people whilst...
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