Filling in the Holes: The Ongoing Search for Self Among Incarcerated Women Anticipating Reentry

Abstract

The analysis presented in this article is derived from a larger longitudinal project that attempts to study the experiences of women being released from prison. A focus of this research is to better understand the challenges that women face in achieving sustainable financial, emotional, and familial lives after release. The data consist of baseline interviews with 41 women who were incarcerated in a prison system in the midwestern United States and were within 6 months of release. The purpose of this substudy is to investigate the ways in which women prepare for the reshaping of their identities as they approach their release dates. Women in this study have great difficulty describing who they are as individuals, and they often relate this difficulty to past experiences of trauma. Their descriptions of self are typically ill defined, unstable, and extremely fluid. Many report that their understanding of themselves as addicts helps them to develop a clearer, more stable sense of self.

‘I took care of my kids’: mothering while incarcerated

“…Like other samples of incarcerated mothers (e.g., Ferraro & Moe, 2003;Hunter & Greer, 2011;Parry, 2018), the mothers we interviewed positioned their criminalized behavior in the context of caring for and protecting their children. Ferraro and Moe (2003) noted that the decision to engage in criminalized behavior was situated in the context of economic need by incarcerated womenwomen described stealing goods or passing worthless checks as a means to feed themselves and their children.…”

Incarcerated Mothers: Issues and Barriers for Regaining Custody of Children

“…The numerous parole expectations are often unrealistic and affect the mother's ability to resume care of their children. Juggling multiple expectations, including special conditions on drug use, housing, and child protection, is burdensome (see also Baldry, 2007Baldry, , 2010Hunter & Greer, 2011;Wybron & Dicker, 2009).…”

"How can you live without your kids?": Distancing from and embracing the stigma of “incarcerated mother"

“…Yet, incarcerated mothers do not simply accept this stigma. Some incarcerated women justify committing larceny or selling drugs as attempts to provide for their children, thereby transforming criminal behaviors into evidence of their commitment to their children and claiming a moral identity as mothers (Ferraro & Moe, 2003;Hunter & Greer, 2011). Others look to the future and their eventual performance of "good motherhood" to help bolster their identity as mothers.…”