Rupture: stories of maternal incarceration

• In Event: WCCJ Panel 2 – Mothers, Motherhood and Criminal Justice

Abstract

The majority of women in English prisons (66% PRT 2019) are mothers and the primary carers of dependent children. Many of these mothers have had children removed from the care prior to entering prison but many more are drawn into care-proceedings because of their prison sentence. Inside prison, there is little, if any support or care for mothers who are left with an acute sense of despair, loss and isolation. Many women will self-harm, self-medicate or attempt suicide as a response to the maternal rupture they have experienced. This paper draws on HMPPS funded research with incarcerated mothers who engaged in an innovative parental rights project delivered by a voluntary sector prison-based family support team in the north east of England (NEPACS). The research involved interviewing 17 women, feminist participatory theatre with a group of 8 women, and interviews with 7 practitioners working with women in prison. The mothers in our study were unaware of their rights as mothers. Some did not know where their children were residing or who was caring for them. Some didn’t know if they were able to write to their children, or if their children had been adopted. In the first part of the paper, we reflect on mothers’ accounts of maternal rupture, drawing on both interview data and findings from the participatory theatre workshops (in collaboration with Open Clasp Theatre Company). In the second part of the paper, we explore some of the broader questions our research raises and connect with feminist debates concerned with the harms of maternal imprisonment.

Authors

• kate louise o'brien, Durham University

• Hannah King, Durham University