Managing Motherhood: How Incarcerated Mothers Negotiate Maternal Role-Identities with Their Children’s Caregivers

Mothering experiences in prison: Exploring distinctions between maternal and paternal caregiving arrangements

“…Notably, these reparative efforts often occurred during the women's incarceration. For many families, the mother's incarceration may be only one of a string of dysfunction and problematic behaviors or lifestyle choices (Cunningham Stringer, 2020; Strozier et al, 2011), and these previous interactions may contribute to tension in the mother–caregiver relationship (Aiello & McQueeney, 2021). However, the fact that mothers were heavily invested in the relationships they have with their maternal relatives has important repercussions during and after mothers' incarceration.…”

“…Incarcerated mothers tasked with finding care for their children during their prison term often face a difficult decision that has important implications for the relationships they have with their children and for their mothering experiences while incarcerated. Caregivers serve a vital role in that they not only assume responsibility for the care and custody of the children left behind in the community, but they also operate as a type of gatekeeper between children and their incarcerated mothers (Cunningham Stringer, 2020; Tasca, 2016). Caregivers can support and encourage the relationship between women and their children during her incarceration, or they can undermine that relationship by prohibiting contact and avoiding information sharing (Cunningham Stringer, 2020).…”

“…Caregivers act as gatekeepers for the mother–child relationship, playing a critical role in providing or restricting information about, and contact between, an incarcerated parent and their child (Cunningham Stringer, 2020; Loper et al, 2014; Tasca, 2016). Caregivers consistently make decisions regarding what information to share with incarcerated mothers about their children (Aiello & McQueeney, 2021), as well as what information should be shared with children regarding their mother's incarceration (Hairston, 2007; Mignon & Ransford, 2012).…”

“…Additionally, literacy challenges may hinder the accessibility of both letter and email writing (Moe & Ferraro, 2007; Wilson & Koons‐Witt, 2021). Although telephone calls might alleviate some of these obstacles, they are often prohibitively expensive for the families of incarcerated parents (Cunningham Stringer, 2020; Hairston, 2007; Poehlmann et al, 2010), further limiting not just mother–child contact but also information sharing between caregivers and mothers (Young & Smith, 2000).…”

“…Incarcerated mothers are often housed hundreds of miles away from their children (Arditti & Few, 2006; Hairston, 2007), which can result in high costs of transportation to travel to the penitentiary (Barnes & Stringer, 2014; Poehlmann et al, 2010) and difficulty coordinating long trips with caregivers' schedules (Young & Smith, 2000; for an expanded discussion regarding barriers to prison visits, see Christian, 2005). Additionally, prisons themselves can institute barriers to contact visits (Cunningham Stringer, 2020; Nesmith & Ruhland, 2011), such as limited visiting schedules, crowded visiting spaces, and regulations regarding the physical contact mothers may have with children (Poehlmann et al, 2010; Young & Smith, 2000). Although contact visits are important for the maintenance of the mother–child relationship (Tasca, 2016), physical visits are fraught with difficulties that limit contact between incarcerated mothers and their families.…”