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Interventions in Prison Nurseries

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Handbook on Children with Incarcerated Parents

Abstract

A prison nursery is dedicated housing inside a criminal justice facility where incarcerated pregnant women continue to co-reside with and be the primary caregiver for their infants for a defined period of time following birth. Available globally, prison nurseries have been variously appraised as inadequate substitutes for social welfare in impoverished countries or as protections for child development and attachment where supportive resources are provided. Existence of nurseries in the USA has been relatively rare and erratic, with between one and thirteen state corrections departments supporting prison nurseries at any point in history. The exception is the New York State facility which is over a century old. Outcome studies for prison nurseries have primarily been descriptive based on observations, surveys, official records, and interviews. Evidence for reduction in criminal recidivism enhanced family support, and re-entry success remains contradictory or under-reported. The humanizing effects of infant presence on prisoners and staff and maternal grief and worry regarding children are consistent themes. Child development outcomes have been measured in the UK, Spain, and the USA, the latter with the most promising results associated with supportive programs. Community alternatives to maternal incarceration are receiving increasing attention to avoid separation of one or more children from parents.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    NOTES.

    See also Vicki Haddock, “Babies Behind Bars,” San Francisco Chronicle, May 24, 2006, E1; and Lucius Lomax, “Babies Behind Bars, Austin Chronicle, July 26, 2004.

  2. 2.

    See Cheryl Hanna-Truscott, “Protective Custody: Within a Prison Nursery at the Washington Corrections Center for Women. Gallery,” http://www.protectivecustody.org/gallery.

  3. 3.

    Libby Robins, director, Family Help Trust, electronic communications with the author, November 8, 2008, and December 17, 2009.

  4. 4.

    Mary W. Byrne, “Maternal and child outcomes of a prison nursery program: Key findings,” http://www.nursing.columbia.edu/byrne/prison _nursery.html.

  5. 5.

    Carol George, Nancy Kaplan, and Mary Main, “Adult Attachment Interview,” 3rd ed., unpublished manuscript, Department of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley, 1996.

  6. 6.

    Mary W. Byrne, “Maternal and child outcomes of a prison nursery program.”

  7. 7.

    New York State Correction Law, article 22, §611, “Births to inmates of correctional institutions and care of children of inmates of correctional institutions.”

  8. 8.

    Arietta Slade and J. Lawrence Aber, “The Parent Development Interview—Revised,” Unpublished protocol, City University of New York, 2004.

  9. 9.

    See http://www.summithouse.org.

  10. 10.

    See the “History” and “Supportive Services” pages of the organization’s web site, http://www.hourchildren.org.

  11. 11.

    Circle of Security, “COS Projects: Early intervention program for parents and children ,” http://www.circleofsecurity.net/cos_projects.html (accessed June 13, 2009).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Nursing and College of Physicians & Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA

    Mary W. Byrne

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Correspondence to Mary W. Byrne .

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  1. Family Translational Research Group, New York University, New York, NY, USA

    J. Mark Eddy

  2. Human Development & Family Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA

    Julie Poehlmann-Tynan

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Byrne, M.W. (2019). Interventions in Prison Nurseries. In: Eddy, J., Poehlmann-Tynan, J. (eds) Handbook on Children with Incarcerated Parents. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-16707-3_12

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