Contextualising Linda’s story: a note on the research
Linda is the first caregiver that I had the privilege of meeting. Her story not only stayed with me, but was an inspiration and motivation to conduct the research that underpins this book. Linda committed no infractions herself – she frequently joked that she had never even received a parking ticket; yet, from that Thursday onwards, Linda’s life was turned upside down.
Prisons remain on the periphery of our society; we know that they exist and yet because only a small proportion of people come into direct contact with them, it is difficult to gain a real understanding of their essence and functioning. Prior to this study, my personal history had not afforded much contact with the prison setting – and my knowledge of maternal imprisonment was born entirely out of my academic interest. Given my own positionality, I decided that it was appropriate and justified to acquaint myself with the prison environment and learn more about the complexities of the environment first-hand. This is why I organised and embarked on a six-month placement at the women’s prison. This placement is where I met Linda, as well as other relatives like her who were in contact with women in prison. Working in the prison provided familiarity with the prison and, importantly, the familial experience of prison. The lessons I learned during these six months subsequently guided the research aims and methods that underpin the study presented in this book.
It is because my meeting with Linda occurred before the research began that she is not one of the 15 families whose experiences are presented later in the book. However, I hope that by beginning with Linda’s experience, you, the reader, will be encouraged to learn more about what happens to grandmothers like Linda, and will join me on this exploration of Maternal Imprisonment and Family Life: From the Caregiver’s Perspective.
The landscape of maternal imprisonment: caregiving and family life
Introduction
This book explores the lives and experiences of family members and friends caring for the children of female prisoners in England and Wales. It provides an opportunity to understand some of the challenges and realities of (re)negotiating family life when a mother is sent to prison from the perspectives of caregiving relatives. Over 2.5 million children are thought to experience parental imprisonment across Europe every year (Noffke, 2017); meanwhile, the most recent estimates for England and Wales suggest that around 17,000 are separated from their imprisoned mothers a year (Howard League for Penal Reform, 2011; Crest Advisory, 2019). These high figures result from most women in prison being mothers, with research suggesting that children remain in the care of relatives – often grandparents and female kin1 – while their mother is imprisoned (Caddle and Crisp, 1997; PRT [Prison Reform Trust], 2018). Previous studies highlight how the separation that maternal imprisonment brings has multiple adverse consequences for both mothers (Enos, 2001; Baldwin, 2015; Masson, 2019) and children (Sharratt, 2014; Jones et al, 2013; Minson, 2018a). Yet, much less is known about how the experience of a mother’s imprisonment impacts the daily lives and practices of the relatives who assume care for children. There is limited understanding about the ways in which caregiving is assumed and shared within families in the absence of the mother. There is little in-depth exploration of how caregiving kin interpret, manage and respond to these additional childcare responsibilities in their everyday lives; meanwhile, there is little discussion of the limited statutory support made available to these families.
This book answers these questions by situating caregiving kin at the heart of the inquiry through a family-centred analysis of existing knowledge and a privileging their own accounts of their circumstances when presenting the research data (Booth, 2017a). This was achieved through the application of Morgan’s (1996, 2011) theoretical lens of ‘family practices’, which facilitated a critical exploration of what families ‘do’, characterised by a sense of the everyday activities and relationships that have social meaning, and that are grounded in history and biography (for more information, see Chapter Two). Significantly, the application of this sociological theory to a field primarily studied by criminologists produced new insights into family constructions and caregiving practices. In particular, the study provides a greater understanding of the emotional, economic, relational, social and practical pressures that maternal imprisonment brings to the everyday lives of caregivers. Their accounts draw attention to the lack of statutory support available from both formal agencies within the criminal justice system and social welfare agencies. These findings come at a particularly opportune moment, providing much-needed evidence to policymakers and practitioners who have taken more interest in understanding the role and significance of family ties for prisoners in recent years (Farmer, 2017; JCHR [Joint Committee on Human Rights], 2019; MoJ [Ministry of Justice] and HMPPS [HM Prison and Probation Service], 2019a).
The landscape of maternal imprisonment: a family affair
Of course, women in prison have different relationships with their family than men. These range from all the issues surrounding pregnancy and mothers and babies in custody, to the disruption of many women’s role as the primary carer when they are taken into custody, to contact with family once a woman is in prison. These issues are vastly different in type and scale to those experienced by men. (Former Chief Inspector of Prisons Nick Hardwick, 2012: 8)
As Nick Hardwick suggests, there are substantial gendered differences that need to be considered when discussing issues pertaining to prison. Women constitute just 5 per cent of the prison population in England and Wales (House of Commons, 2018), which is consistent with female prisoner populations elsewhere, including Australia (8 per cent) and Sweden (6 per cent) (World Prison Brief, 2019). However, decades of research has shown how women have specific needs and vulnerabilities, having already experienced trauma and abuse, poor educational attainment, and issues with substances and mental health on entry to prison (Carlen, 2002; Carlen and Worrall, 2004; Corston, 2007; Baldwin, 2015; Masson, 2019). Added to this, it is believed that over two thirds of women in prison are mothers with dependent children, and that most were living with their children prior to their incarceration (Caddle and Crisp,