Building and Maintaining Familial Bonds from Behind Bars: An Examination of the “Reading for a Change” Program in Colorado.

• In Event: Bonds Behind Bars: Family Connections & Social Support in Prison

Abstract

A total of 800,000 of the 1.5 million adults in US prisons have a child under the age of 18 (Glaze & Maruchak, 2008). The current study examines the relationship between incarcerated parents and their children. Participants of this study took part in a program titled “Reading for a Change,” implemented at the Weld County and Boulder County Jails in Colorado. The program involves researchers traveling to county jails and recording parents reading books to their children. The recordings are then edited and sent, along with the books, home to each of the children. The goal of the program is to build or sustain the relationship between children and their incarcerated parent. Surveys with incarcerated parents who took part in the program in the jails were collected utilizing qualitative interviews. Parents were asked about their relationships with their children and the impact incarceration has had on their families. Qualitative analysis examines the impact incarceration has had on the familial bonds of their families and their perceptions of how the "Reading for a Change" program could help to build or maintain these bonds.

Authors

• Kyle C. Ward, University of Northern Colorado

• Alexandra Murphy, University of Northern Colorado

• Evelyn Reynoso, University of Northern Colorado

• Amanda Gowan, University of Northern Colorado

• Nina Strayhorn, University of Northern Colorado

• Nadia Rascon, University of Northern Colorado