Family & Corrections Network

Reading Room

By Edwin C. Hostetter and Dorothea T. Jinnah
© Copyright by Prison Fellowship Ministries 1993
All rights reserved

Introduction

The rapid increase in the numbers of incarcerated Americans means more and more families, particularly children, are being affected. Researchers in sociological, psychological, medical, and correctional disciplines have studied various segments of the prisoner family population and different aspects of the problem. Available literature admits that studies have been few, sometimes flawed or inconclusive; yet it is well recognized that the families of most prisoners suffer a great deal of hardship because of the incarceration of a spouse or parent, with repercussions that affect society as a whole. The literature also acknowledges the value of maintaining family ties--not only for the sake of the prisoner's rehabilitation but for the preservation and welfare of the family.

For the most part, prisoners' families are not taken into consideration by law enforcement officers, the courts, correctional agencies, or social service agencies. The criminal justice process, from arrest through arraignment and trial to placement in a correctional facility, neglects prisoners' families.<1> They often fall through the gaps in social services because agencies are not aware of their special needs or because there are no programs to meet them.

In this paper we will begin by laying out the statistical data (that is, the demographics) presented by both national and geographically smaller studies on families with an incarcerated member. Then we will discuss the problems and needs suggested by the various reports. And finally we will review some of the services and programs now available to the families of adult prisoners.

We started our research with a scan of the literature, looking first at studies done within the last dozen years, then expanding the search to include some key earlier pieces and a limited number of international publications. We followed up with several personal and telephone interviews with people involved in researching problems or implementing programs relative to families of prisoners. A recent conference addressing the subject yielded substantial contacts as well as corroboration of basic needs of and resources for prisoners' families.

DEMOGRAPHICS

Marital status. About 38 percent of federal prisoners are currently married; 33 percent were never married; and 29 percent are divorced, separated, or widowed. Merely 18 percent of state prisoners are married. Three times that many (55 percent) never married; 27 percent are divorced, separated, or widowed. Among jailees, 19 percent are married; approximately 57 percent never married and 24 percent are divorced, separated, or widowed.<2> According to one survey, in addition to the 18-19 percent of incarcerated persons who are married, nearly 11 percent lived in common-law relationships.<3> A study of prisoners' wives found that 75 percent of them expected to resume a shared relationship with the offender upon his release. Another study of "significant women" (wives, mothers, lovers) in prisoners' lives concluded that 90 percent of the women looked forward to the prisoners' return home.<4>

Parenthood. Roughly 49 percent of the men and 45 percent of the women in federal prisons have at least one child below the age of eighteen years. Among state prisoners, 56 percent of men and 67 percent of women have minor children. One survey recorded 36 percent of all jailees--men and women--had children under fifteen years old, although another survey shows 68 percent of the women in jail have children under eighteen.<5> A few reports have indicated that the figure should be as high as 75 percent for adult women in prisons and jails who are the mothers of minor children.<6> (Six percent of women in prison and 4 percent of women in jail are pregnant when admitted; 9 percent of women prisoners and jailees surveyed revealed having given birth to a child while incarcerated.)<7>

In raw numbers, there are more than 73,000 minor children with a parent in federal prison, at least 826,000 under eighteen years old with a parent in state prison, and around 327,000 below age fifteen with a parent in jail. This translates possibly into upwards of 1.5 million minor children with a parent behind bars. Of course, these figures do not take into account the innumerable children who have had an incarcerated parent at some earlier point in their young lives.

The average age of minor children with a mother in prison or jail comes to 7.8 years old. The approximate breakdown of the minor children by age groupings is 43 percent under seven years; 46 percent between seven and twelve; and 11 percent over twelve. (For the minor children of incarcerated men, the distribution is around 33 percent between zero and six years; 42 percent from seven to twelve; and 25 percent above twelve but below nineteen.) Racially, 43 percent of the women's children are black, 24 percent are white, 21 percent are Hispanic, and the remaining 12 percent are Asian, Native American, and so forth. Lastly, 52 percent of the children are girls, 48 percent are boys.<8>

Custody of children. As many as 80-85 percent of mothers, prior to imprisonment, had legal custody of children under the age of eighteen and were their primary source of financial and emotional support.<9> Several studies demonstrate that slightly over half or slightly under half of all adult women in prisons and jails were caring for minor children before incarceration.<10> For state prisoners alone, the ratio appears to be that 7 in 10 of the mothers (and 5 in 10 of the fathers) were living with their children.<11> An average of 2.3 children had been living with each mother now behind bars and 1.6 with each father.<12> The vast majority of mothers in prison or jail (78 percent) plan to reestablish a home with their children upon release.<13>

Of the fathers in federal prison, 91 percent report that they have at least one child who resides with the child's mother, 14 percent report a child residing with a grandparent, 5 percent report with other relatives or friends, and 1 percent report foster homes, children's agencies, or institutions. Among state prisoners, 90 percent of the fathers indicate that their children live with the mothers, 10 percent with grandparents, 3 percent with other relatives or friends, and 2 percent in a foster home or agency/institution. For mothers in federal prison, the percentages are 33 (child's father), 54 (grandparent), 44 (other relative, friend), and 6 (foster home, agency, institution). The percentages for mothers in state prison are around 25, 50, 24, and 10, respectively. Nearly 24 percent of jailed mothers with young children said that one or more of their children were living with the father, 50 percent said a grandparent, 27 percent said another relative or friend, and 8 percent said a foster home or an institutional setting.<14>

A different analysis (basing the ratios on the total number of the children rather than of the parents) found that 87 percent of the minor children of an incarcerated father live with their mother, 8 percent live with their grandparent, and 5 percent live elsewhere. Among the children of mothers in prison and jail, 24 percent or so are staying with the father and 42 percent or so with a grandparent; in the vicinity of 25 percent were placed with other relatives and 9 percent in foster care. Still another study, however, learned that just 17 percent of the children of surveyed women prisoners or jailees lived with their fathers.<15>

With this data in mind, we now turn to characterize the needs and problems of the families of adult prisoners.

GENERAL NEEDS

Incarceration is laden with numerous troubles for family members: for example, financial loss with its ramifications; emotional trauma (including conflicting feelings--on the one hand, love for and identification with the absent person; on the other hand, anger toward and rejection of the absentee); the assumption of new roles such as disciplinarian or sole caretaker; disrepute in the community and denial of normal social outlets for grieving the "departed" member; the dilemma of the free parent of deciding what and how to tell the children and extended family members; the experience for many children of ostracism, guilt, discipline problems, failure to sustain school performance levels, and symptoms such as eating disorders, insomnia, or clinging; the complexity of maintaining contact with the offender; and dealing with the prison environment as well as the intimidating criminal justice system.<16>

It must be acknowledged that some family members could not care less that a relative is in prison.<17> In certain instances, spouses (specifically wives) feel relief over their partner's imprisonment. Their lives improve in the absence of substance abuse and domestic violence.<18> Additionally, one investigation discovered that for only a minority of children was schoolwork or friendships affected because a parent entered prison. And barely half suffered emotional disturbance.<19> Nevertheless, families of prisoners usually do encounter a variety of physical and psychological problems. In what follows, we will discuss these needs under a pair of categories: spouses--which might as easily be given the heading, "significant others"--and children.

Before doing so, however, a brief mention of the unique needs of families with an individual on death row will be made. Separation from a family member under the threat of death by execution produces both prolonged and distorted grief reactions in the family. Three broadly shared features of prolonged grief are self- accusation (which destroys self-esteem), social isolation (which makes families prisoners in their own homes), and powerlessness (which reflects an inability to change the sentence). Distorted grief reactions surface in the forms of overactivity without a sense of loss, an acquisition of medical illness, an alteration in social relationships or a disappearance of patterns of social interaction, conduct that resembles schizophrenia, behavior that is detrimental to a person's social and economic well-being, and depression.<20>

Spouses

Families--especially those facing a first incarceration experience--have a critical need for concrete information. A prisoner's spouse requires timely explanation about the criminal justice system in general and about the facility where the offender resides in particular. The spouse needs to know how the facility operates along with its rules and regulations governing visitation. Also, a spouse needs to know when and where the prisoner will be transferred. Whether orally or in writing, such official information needs to be conveyed simply and clearly, taking into consideration the language of the recipient.<21> Information about legal issues of child custody and about relevant resources and services to which the families may be entitled is needed too. Those services can include welfare, counseling, and so forth.

The financial crisis many prisoners' spouses (especially wives) face can be overwhelming. Often forced into the labor market with few skills, these wives may need emergency funds, day care, subsidized housing, job training, or employment guidance. Among women studied, there is a heavy reliance upon relatives for financial assistance and child care. Of course, in a situation where the offender had not been employed or for some reason had not been contributing money to the family, incarceration has little effect on the family's economic status. This tends to be the case more frequently for low-income than middle-income households. And admission to the welfare rolls does give some wives a steady, dependable income that they lacked when their husbands were at home.<22>

Maintaining contact with the prisoner is one of the most difficult problems that a family faces. Distance between the family's dwelling and the prison can be an obstacle. Occasionally, a family does not have access to transportation--either private or public. If they do, the cost may be prohibitive. In certain states, furthermore, prisoners' spouses have difficulty obtaining automobile insurance.

The visit itself is sometimes marred by humiliation and degradation. Spouses are exposed to suspicion, searches, and seemingly arbitrary rules. The first visit to an institution is particularly disturbing for visitors, who are confronted with a structured environment in which they must express personal feelings and concerns. Equally frustrating, a spouse may have to wait for a large portion of the allotted visiting period while correctional personnel "find" the incarcerated offender. Families generally tolerate such annoyances with little complaint, fearing potential repercussions for the prisoners.

Spouses of prisoners experience loneliness and sexual frustration and, when children are involved, have almost no time for personal interests and leisure. This usually causes resentment toward the incarcerated member who "enjoys" companionship and other comforts without the normally accompanying responsibilities. On the other hand, nonincarcerated spouses often feel fear and anxiety about their partner's safety in prison. It is not uncommon for a spouse to support and nurture the prisoner by supplying money or items such as cigarettes, coffee, clothes, or even contraband--out of a meager family income.

Role changes are to be expected when a family member is imprisoned. The new circumstances of the spouse left behind in the free world by necessity pushes that person toward a greater measure of independence and autonomy--especially in the case of a wife.<23> The offender may use visiting hours and telephone communications in order to try to dominate, control, and just generally check up on family members. Or he or she may wish not to be burdened with affairs at or problems from home. A spouse must determine how best to maintain a relationship with the absentee and to what extent to include that one in parenting and other duties.

Children

Limited research on the topic of prisoners' children has linked parental incarceration with social, emotional, and cognitive delays among the children as well as behavioral problems at home and at school. Having a parent in prison is particularly hard on those children who had a positive relationship with the offender. They mourn the loss of their parent and tend to exhibit reactions like denial, guilt, anger, low self-esteem, lack of motivation, depression, and sadness. The children also may blame the remaining parent for the imprisonment or blame themselves. Finally, a child might attempt to parent the other siblings, offer guidance to the family, or provide economically. Such shoes are normally too big to fill.<24>

The social stigmatization that children face is probably the most damaging result from parental incarceration. They are frequently rejected or taunted by friends, relatives, and teachers. Children then react through aggressive or withdrawn behavior or with regression, nightmares, enuresis, insomnia, truancy, poor achievement, deep depression, even suicide. Interestingly, one study indicates that "acting-out" behavior (like running away or using drugs) characterizes children whose fathers are in prison, while "acting-in" behavior (like daydreaming or crying) characterizes those whose mothers are in prison.<25>

Children face other adjustment difficulties such as changing residences or schools--sometimes due to landlords or employers responding negatively to discovery of the family's status. When the mother is incarcerated, children generally move to a different household. The majority begin living with a relative, especially a grandparent, but the rest go somewhere else like foster care. Or they may be shuffled around from place to place. New rules of conduct in possibly unfamiliar settings await them. Relatives may resent taking on a new parenting role or may possess insufficient health or finances to do so. Consequently, children can exhibit hyperactivity, attention deficits, delinquency (for example, stealing or fighting), teenage pregnancy, withdrawal from social relationships, or retreat into denial and fantasy.<26>

Another serious problem for children of prisoners is the deception that often surrounds incarceration of a parent. Many families keep the fact a secret and concoct stories about what happened to the missing parent. According to one report, a quarter of women prisoners' children did not know that their mothers were in prison.<27> By trying to "protect" children from the truth, family members really cause them to become more worried and uncertain and to conjure up all sorts of horrors about what is taking place. Children who are deceived also become fearful and mistrustful, wondering what might happen to them: Will they disappear like the absentee?<28>

As it is for the spouses of prisoners, so visiting the penitentiary may be complicated for the children if they live far away or their caretaker discourages such visits. Moreover, few prisons have made adequate provisions for visitation between parents and children. This includes uninviting visiting rooms and restrictive regulations.<29>

Finally, parental incarceration seriously challenges a child's formation of values. In spite of words from parent to child about proper attitudes and behaviors, criminal deeds by the parent send a powerfully contradictory message to the child. Prisoners' children are at risk of manifesting criminal or antisocial activity themselves.<30> Two recent studies found that more than half of the youths in custody had an immediate family member behind bars.<31>

The foregoing description should leave no doubt about the void that programs designed for the often forgotten victims of incarceration can fill.

PROGRAMS AND SERVICES

Fortunately, caring individuals and groups have come to the aid of adult prisoners' families through a diversity of useful interventions: for example, family therapy, children's centers in prison, visitors' hospitality houses, self-help groups, inexpensive transportation to the institution, child care during visits, liaison and brokering of services, counseling, emergency provisions, legal advice, tutorial assistance, and retreats and camping. This section of the paper will describe existing programs that help with visitation and that provide other support.<32>

Visitation Programs

A program in Connecticut requires its trained volunteers to accompany each woman on her first visit to an institution. The volunteer will have explained visiting regulations and prison procedures. She sits in a waiting area until the visit is finished.<33> Relatedly, a center in the state of Washington will even intervene with prison officials on behalf of prisoners' families over issues concerning visitation.<34>

Transportation for family members to and from prison facilities is a service many organizations supply.<35> Occasionally, this takes the form of subsidized transportation, in order to make the cost affordable. Such is the case with an innovative, New Jersey agency which recruits health officials to lecture to the captive bus audiences en route regarding basic health care as well as AIDS and HIV testing.<36> Often, transportation to at least certain prisons is offered free.<37> In some California instances, county social services or public welfare departments pay transportation costs for foster-home children whose mothers are incarcerated. Likewise, a state social services department in Connecticut pays for institutional visits by children under its jurisdiction.<38>

This leads into discussion of other provided services surrounding a prison visit. An organization in California stocks a "clothes closet" with garments that meet the institutional dress code.<39> A Florida project developed a site where wives of federal prisoners can obtain lodging, food, and child care during a period of visitation.<40> Other agencies supplying overnight housing for men or women include one in California that also helps families of the incarcerated to shop for supplies for their visits.<41> In a New York program, neighborhood families host youngsters for a week during the summer while they visit their mothers in prison.<42> An Illinois facility allows children to lodge on the grounds itself over a summer weekend. Taking things a bit farther, several states now permit incarcerated and nonincarcerated spouses to spend weekends together in prison trailers complete with kitchens, television sets, and beds.<43>

With respect to the actual visit, programs in Connecticut and California give parents an opportunity to converse without constant interruptions from their young children. This is accomplished through the provision of separate playrooms and playgrounds where the children can participate in activities (such as arts and crafts), games, and educational lessons, and may even receive a nourishing lunch. The children also find here an accepting environment in which to express their feelings about the prison.<44>

Other programs bring both the incarcerated parent and the child together for visitation. In a Michigan institution, children get to spend time alone with their mothers or play with other children in the same room. The mothers are free to tend to their children by styling their hair, taking them to the bathroom, and so forth. Activities include group singing and storytelling as well as individual involvement with toys, games, and educational materials (like art and reading). A nonuniformed staff member, rather than a uniformed officer, is present throughout the visit. Afterward, children get to discuss their feelings about the experience; so do mothers in a different group.<45>

Similar projects in Illinois and New York extend, respectively, over a weekend (before which each incarcerated parent passes through three stages of orientation and during which a nondenominational religious worship service takes place) and across a full week (with visits lasting from morning till afternoon each day).<46> A federal prison in Texas and county jails in Pennsylvania and California have permitted establishment of pleasant, child-oriented visiting areas with bright furnishings and age- appropriate playthings.<47> The Pennsylvania program links parenting classes with the visitation privileges; the California program arranges for substantially longer-than-normal visits. A program in Arizona does both: holds an eight-week child-rearing course and sponsors special Friday visiting sessions for incarcerated mothers and their children.<48> Finally, prisoners at a New York facility could plan a Father's Day celebration where events resembled a family picnic and included music, badminton, and ice cream cones for dessert.<49>

Support Programs

In addition to helping with visitation, a program in California tries to be there for prisoners' families when they switch residences and jobs or schools. The volunteers offer crisis intervention by means of, for example, an emergency food closet; but especially they offer advice, information, and referral. (This latter service is quite similar to that of a Florida project, which provides information to the wives of federal prisoners.)<50> The California project sponsors a once-per-month potluck dinner with a speaker in order to give the significant others of prisoners a chance to get together and to ease the feelings of loneliness. An annual event is a Christmastime appearance by Santa Claus at a four-course dinner for the women.<51>

A Michigan program supplements its visitation assistance with a clinical psychologist who provides family therapy. Evidently, this has been very successful in helping children--including teenagers-- stop disruptive behaviors, such as fighting at school.<52> (Comparable services in California have been described as providing regular family counseling for spouses and children to assist them in coping with the crisis of incarceration.)<53>

In the state of Washington, a center stocks a shed of secondhand clothing from which the families of prisoners may select items for themselves. They may also draw upon food supplies kept available for emergencies. Finally, this same center offers both simple hospitality and supportive counseling to prisoners' friends as well as families.<54> (In Connecticut and a few other places, help for wives to deal with the bias that they face in the community has come from government-supported social services.)<55>

Besides direct help with visiting, a program in California holds sessions made up of support groups, gives out useful information and referrals to other resources, and intervenes in crisis situations--like a dire lack of food.<56> (Group meetings where families of prisoners can find support are becoming more commonplace. Correspondingly, one objective of an innovative project in Florida is to encourage prison wives to participate in such groups which focus on gaining support from other prison wives, on solving problems, and on coping with the various stages of incarceration.)<57>

The professional staff of a Texas program can assist in obtaining permanent residential placement for a child, if needed. The agency also operates a project which focuses on the feelings and behaviors of children with parents in prison. The children are nurtured to develop positive mental attitudes toward themselves and others, to build decision-making skills, to understand the concept of family and friends, and to cope with their parents' incarceration by providing a realistic view of prison life. Role-playing, storytelling, arts and crafts, noncompetitive games, puppet shows, and filmstrips for discussion contribute toward achievement of the desired ends.<58> (Other services especially for kids include recreational activities and educational experiences directed by organizations in Georgia and California for the children of incarcerated offenders.)<59>

A Connecticut agency helps families of prisoners relocate to new apartments, finds scholarships for vocational training programs, gives guidance on child- rearing techniques, and assists in the acquisition of care for minor children. (A program in New York stands ready to arrange substitute care for the children if the usual caregiver becomes ill or injured.)<60> The Connecticut volunteers maintain continuous contact with family members over the first two months of incarceration through telephone conversations, home visits, or special joint activities.<61>

In spite of the fact that much is being done to assist the families of adult prisoners, more ought to be done. A greater availability of counseling services would help spouses better manage the initial crisis of losing a loved one to prison or jail and cope with the ongoing emotional strains.

One study of prison visitation across the country encourages an increase in the length and frequency of visits as well as an increase in the number of hours each day/week during which a prisoner or jailee may receive a visit.<62> More spousal contact and private family visits (including children) would be desirable.

Then too, prisoners' families should have greater access to information. So should child welfare workers who have under their jurisdiction children of incarcerated parents. Welfare administrators and corrections administrators must cooperate in order to ensure that such children do not slip through the cracks of the system.

The practical, emotional, and spiritual needs of prisoners' families present opportunities for a wide array of services that can be offered through organized efforts by volunteers. From simple transportation (to prisons, jails and courtrooms) to youth camping and mentoring, the needs and opportunities abound.

NOTES

<1> Bonnie E. Carlson and Neil Cervera, Inmates and Their Wives: Incarceration and Family Life, Studies in Social Welfare Policies and Programs, no. 14 (Westport: Greenwood Press, 1992), 15.

<2> "1991 Survey of Inmates in Federal Correctional Facilities," Typewritten document, Federal Bureau of Prisons, U.S. Department of Justice, Washington; Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics, Survey of State Prison Inmates, 1991, by Allen Beck et al. (Washington, 1993), 3; and Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics, Profile of Jail Inmates, 1989, by Allen J. Beck, special report (Washington, 1991), 3.

<3> Barbara Bloom and David Steinhart, Why Punish the Children? A Reappraisal of the Children of Incarcerated Mothers in America (San Francisco: National Council on Crime and Delinquency, 1993), 20.

<4> Creasie Finney Hairston, "Family Ties during Imprisonment: Important to Whom and for What?" Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare 18 (1991): 89-90.

<5> "1991 Survey of Inmates in Federal Correctional Facilities," Federal Bureau of Prisons; Bureau of Justice Statistics, Survey of State Prison Inmates, 1991, 10; Kathi J. Kemper and Frederick P. Rivara, "Parents in Jail," Pediatrics 92 (August 1993): 261; and Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics, Women in Jail 1989, by Tracy L. Snell, special report (Washington, 1992), 9.

<6> Patricia L. Poupore et al., The Female Offender: What Does the Future Hold? (Laurel, MD: American Correctional Association, 1990), 51-52; and Ellen Barry, "Children of Prisoners: Punishing the Innocent," Youth Law News, March-April 1985, 12.

<7> Bloom and Steinhart, Why Punish the Children? 14, 29; cf. Bureau of Justice Statistics, Survey of State Prison Inmates, 1991, 10.

<8> Bloom and Steinhart, Why Punish the Children? 23; and Virginia Commission on Youth, The Study of the Needs of Children Whose Parents Are Incarcerated, report to the Governor and the General Assembly of Virginia, House Document no. 32 (Richmond, 1993), app. C, pp. 2, 5.

<9> Constance M. Baugh, "Mothers in Prison, Children in Crisis," Typewritten manuscript, 18 April 1993, JusticeWorks Community, Brooklyn, p. 1; and Barry, "Children of Prisoners," 12.

<10> George C. Kiser, "Female Inmates"

<11>Bureau of Justice Statistics, Survey of State Prison Inmates, 1991, 10.

<12>Virginia Commission on Youth, The Study of the Needs of Children Whose Parents Are Incarcerated, 8. Mothers in one investigation had 2.6 minor children apiece, but they did not necessarily live together prior to incarceration; see Bloom and Steinhart, Why Punish the Children? 23.

<13>Bloom and Steinhart, Why Punish the Children? 25.

<14>"1991 Survey of Inmates in Federal Correctional Facilities," Federal Bureau of Prisons; Bureau of Justice Statistics, Survey of State Prison Inmates, 1991, 10; and Bureau of Justice Statistics, Women in Jail 1989, 9. Percentages add to more than 100% since respondents could mention more than one place where their children were residing.

<15>Virginia Commission on Youth, The Study of the Needs of Children Whose Parents Are Incarcerated, app. C, pp. 4, 5; and Bloom and Steinhart, Why Punish the Children? 14, 24, 30.

<16>Susan Hoffman Fishman, "Losing a Loved One to Incarceration: The Effect of Imprisonment on Family Members," Personnel and Guidance Journal 59 (February 1981): 372, 373.

<17>Hairston, "Family Ties during Imprisonment," 97.

<18>Carlson and Cervera, Inmates and Their Wives, 28; and Laura T. Fishman, Women at the Wall: A Study of Prisoners' Wives Doing Time on the Outside, SUNY Series in Critical Issues in Criminal Justice (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1990), 204.

<19>L. Alex Swan, Families of Black Prisoners: Survival and Progress (Boston: G. K. Hall & Co., 1981), 90-91.

<20>John Ortiz Smykla, "The Human Impact of Capital Punishment: Interviews with Families of Persons on Death Row," Journal of Criminal Justice 15 (1987): 346.

<21>Carlson and Cervera, Inmates and Their Wives, 104.

<22>Ibid., 24-25; Fishman, Women at the Wall, 274; Ginger Hannon, Don Martin, and Maggie Martin, "Incarceration in the Family: Adjustment to Change," Family Therapy 11 (1984): 255; and Swan, Families of Black Prisoners, 103.

<23>Fishman, Women at the Wall, 203-4, 205.

<24>Margaret K. Brooks, How Can I Help? Working with Children of Incarcerated Parents, Serving Special Children, vol. 1 (New York: Osborne Association, 1993), 9.

<25>Travis A. Fritsch and John D. Burkhead, "Behavioral Reactions of Children to Parental Absence Due to Imprisonment," Family Relations 30 (January 1981): 86.

<26>Stewart Gabel and Richard Shindledecker, "Characteristics of Children Whose Parents Have Been Incarcerated," Hospital and Community Psychiatry 44 (July 1993): 659; Christina Jose-Kampfner, "Michigan Program Makes Children's Visits Meaningful," Corrections Today, August 1991, 134; and Brooks, How Can I Help? 11.

<27>Kiser, "Female Inmates and Their Families," 59.

<28>Evelyn Herrmann-Keeling, "When Dad Goes to Prison," Nurturing Today 10 (1988): 15.

<29>Barry, "Children of Prisoners," 13-14.

<30>Brooks, How Can I Help? 9.

<31>Jose-Kampfner, "Michigan Program Makes Children's Visits Meaningful," 134.

<32>Besides the appendix in Bloom and Steinhart, Why Punish the Children? and an appendix in Virginia Commission on Youth, The Study of the Needs of Children Whose Parents Are Incarcerated, the following publications contain annotated lists of aid organizations--Department of Justice, National Institute of Corrections, Directory of Programs Serving Families of Adult Offenders, by James W. Mustin, ed. (n.p., 1992); "Programs and Resources for Inmate Parents and Their Children," Family Resource Coalition Report, vol. 5, no. 1 (1986); and James Boudouris, Prisons and Kids: Programs for Inmate Parents (College Park, MD: American Correctional Association, 1985).

<33>Fishman, "Losing a Loved One to Incarceration," 374; and Carlson and Cervera, Inmates and Their Wives, 119.

<34>Elizabeth Coombs, "Stretching a Helping Hand to Reformatory's Visitors," Corrections Today, August 1991, 116.

<35>See, e.g., Carlson and Cervera, Inmates and Their Wives, 120, 121; Leslee Goodman Hornick, "Volunteer Program Helps Make Inmates' Families Feel Welcome," Corrections Today, August 1991, 184; Jose- Kampfner, "Michigan Program Makes Children's Visits Meaningful," 132; Debra Key and Gloria Eyres, A Child Serving Time on the Outside (Austin: Hogg Foundation for Mental Health, 1987), 16; and Norma J. Stumbo and Sandra L. Little, "Campground Offers Relaxed Setting for Children's Visitation Program," Corrections Today, August 1991, 142.

<36>Dan White, "The Joint Connection: John Mavros '71's Program Helps to Hold Prison Inmates and Their Families Together," Princeton Alumni Weekly, 24 March 1993, 16, 18.

<37>Coombs, "Stretching a Helping Hand to Reformatory's Visitors," 114; and Bloom and Steinhart, Why Punish the Children? 53.

<38>Barry, "Children of Prisoners," 13-14.

<39>Hornick, "Volunteer Program Helps Make Inmates' Families Feel Welcome," 184.

<40>Carlson and Cervera, Inmates and Their Wives, 120; cf. Coombs, "Stretching a Helping Hand to Reformatory's Visitors," 114, 116.

<41>Bertha Burton, "Is There Hospitality in the House? Overnight Housing for Prison Visitors," Nurturing Today 10 (1988): 13. See also Bloom and Steinhart, Why Punish the Children? 53; and Key and Eyres, A Child Serving Time on the Outside, 16.

<42>Jean Harris, "A Week in the Country," Nurturing Today 10 (1988): 14.

<43>Kevin P. Helliker, "Guilt by Marriage: Many Convicts' Wives Can't Get Work, Housing or Insurance," Wall Street Journal, 13 September 1983, 20.

<44>Fishman, "Losing a Loved One to Incarceration," 375; and Hornick, "Volunteer Program Helps Make Inmates' Families Feel Welcome," 184.

<45>Jose-Kampfner, "Michigan Program Makes Children's Visits Meaningful," 130, 132.

<46>Stumbo and Little, "Campground Offers Relaxed Setting for Children's Visitation Program," 138, 140, 142; and Harris, "A Week in the Country," 14, 33. Cf. Bloom and Steinhart, Why Punish the Children? 52.

<47>Key and Eyres, A Child Serving Time on the Outside, 15; Charlotte H. Rudel and Margaret L. Hayes, "Behind No Bars," Children Today, May-June 1990, 20- 21; and Bloom and Steinhart, Why Punish the Children? 53-54.

<48>Carol Sowers, "Program Lets Prisoners Be What They Long to Be--Moms," Phoenix Arizona Republic, 21 June 1993, B1.

<49>Carlson and Cervera, Inmates and Their Wives, 116.

<50>Ibid., 120.

<51>Hornick, "Volunteer Program Helps Make Inmates' Families Feel Welcome," 184.

<52>Jose-Kampfner, "Michigan Program Makes Children's Visits Meaningful," 134.

<53>Carlson and Cervera, Inmates and Their Wives, 120-21.

<54>Coombs, "Stretching a Helping Hand to Reformatory's Visitors," 114, 116.

<55>Helliker, "Guilt by Marriage," 20.

<56>Burton, "Is There Hospitality in the House?" 13.

<57>Carlson and Cervera, Inmates and Their Wives, 120; cf. Tricia Hedin, "My Husband Is in Prison," Newsweek, 15 December 1986, 14.

<58>Key and Eyres, A Child Serving Time on the Outside, 16, 18-19.

<59>Bloom and Steinhart, Why Punish the Children? 53; and Carlson and Cervera, Inmates and Their Wives, 120.

<60>Bloom and Steinhart, Why Punish the Children? 52-53.

<61>Fishman, "Losing a Loved One to Incarceration," 374; and Carlson and Cervera, Inmates and Their Wives, 119.

<62>Fishman, "Losing a Loved One to Incarceration," 373.

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

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