Mothering Behind Bars: Evaluating the Effectiveness of Prison Nursery Programs on Recidivism Reduction
| Published date | 01 November 2019 |
| Date | 01 November 2019 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0032885519875037 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
research-article2019
Article
The Prison Journal
2019, Vol. 99(5) 572 –592
Mothering Behind
© 2019 SAGE Publications
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https://doi.org/10.1177/0032885519875037
DOI: 10.1177/0032885519875037
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Effectiveness of Prison
Nursery Programs on
Recidivism Reduction
Kimberly D. Dodson1, LeAnn N. Cabage2,
and Shaina M. McMillan3
Abstract
The purpose of this study is to conduct a comprehensive evidence-based
review of evaluation studies of prison nursery programs to determine
whether they are effective in reducing recidivism. Seven studies evaluating
the effectiveness of prison nursery programs are examined and classified
using the Maryland Scientific Methods Scale. The results show some empirical
evidence for the capacity of prison nursery programs to reduce recidivism.
However, weak methodological research designs and insufficient statistical
analyses led us to classify the effectiveness of prison nursery programs as
“unknown.” Suggestions for improving the methodological quality of studies
examining prison nursery programs and directions for future research are
discussed.
Keywords
incarcerated mothers, pregnant inmates, prison nursery programs, recidivism,
“what works”
1University of Houston-Clear Lake, TX, USA
2Kennesaw State University, GA, USA
3Jackson State University, MS, USA
Corresponding Author:
Kimberly D. Dodson, Department of Social and Cultural Sciences, University of Houston-
Clear Lake, Bayou 2617.02, 2700 Bay Area Blvd., Houston, TX 77058, USA.
Email: dodsonk@uhcl.edu
Dodson et al.
573
Introduction
In the United States, there are approximately 65,600 mothers incarcerated in
state and federal correctional facilities. They are mothers to a total of 147,400
children. Sixty-four percent of incarcerated mothers report living with their
children prior to incarceration (Glaze & Maruschak, 2010). The children of
incarcerated mothers are typically placed with other family members or in
foster care while their mothers serve their time. The breakdown of these
placements shows that most children are living with a grandparent (45%),
followed closely by living with the other parent (37%). The remainder of the
children live with another relative (23%), in foster care (11%), or with another
caregiver (8%)1 (Glaze & Maruschak, 2010). The number of children with
incarcerated mothers is expected to grow, as the estimates indicate the num-
ber of incarcerated mothers increased 122% between 1991 and 2007 (Glaze
& Maruschak, 2010).
In addition, the number of women entering the correctional system while
pregnant is a growing concern for policymakers and correctional administra-
tors. In 2004, the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) reported that 4% of
women in state custody and 3% of women under federal correctional super-
vision were pregnant at the time of admission (Maruschak, 2008). Lacking a
national policy pertaining to pregnant inmates and newborns, most infants
born to mothers under correctional supervision are released from medical
care to a relative of the mother or become wards of the state. However,
eight states (Illinois, Indiana, Nebraska, New York, Ohio, South Dakota,
Washington, and West Virginia) currently offer prison nursery programs that
allow infants to remain with their mothers for a designated length of time
(typically ranging from 30 days to 36 months) if the mother meets estab-
lished program criteria.
Prison nursery programs provide incarcerated mothers with educational
training in child development and parenting skills. The primary goal of prison
nursery programs is to give mothers and infants an opportunity to form emo-
tional attachments or bonds. Prison nursery advocates believe that strong
mother–infant bonds will increase parental competency and diminish the likeli-
hood of future offending for the mother-participants. Research examining the
effectiveness of prison nursery programs indicates that nursery participants are
less likely to be rearrested and reincarcerated (see Carlson, 1998, 2001, 2009;
Koch & Tomlin, 2010; Staley, 2002; Whiteacre, Fritz, & Owen, 2013).
Although these findings are encouraging, to date, no one has investigated
whether prison nursery programs are effective. The current study seeks to fill
this gap in the literature by conducting a comprehensive evaluation of prison
nursery programs to determine whether they reduce recidivism.
574
The Prison Journal 99(5)
A Brief History of Prison Nursery Programs
Prison nurseries are not new. Such programs emerged in early-19th-century
England, and the practice was later adopted in the United States. By the early
1800s, the Newgate Gaol in London allowed women to keep their children
with them (Rush, 1991). In the United States, children were present in cor-
rectional institutions as early as 1800. A report of U.S. prison populations
from 1800 to 1840 indicates that there were children in correctional facilities
in Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, and Pennsylvania (Zemans & Smith,
1946). In addition, records from New York’s Western House of Refuge at
Albion, which operated between 1894 and 1931, showed that babies born in
the prison could stay with their mothers up to age 2 (Craig, 2009).
The rationale for these early prison nursery programs was that mothers
who care for their babies following birth would be more likely to take respon-
sibility for their children upon release. Although laws existed to allow chil-
dren to remain with their mothers following birth in prison, few facilities
followed in practice. Many of the facilities that permitted infants to remain
with their mothers closed after a short time. One exception was New York’s
Bedford Hills, the state’s women’s penitentiary, Bedford Hills. Bedford Hills
opened in 1901, permitting unwed mothers to keep their infants until the
child’s first birthday (Craig, 2009). In 1930, legislation was enacted to con-
tinue the practice, and this remains unchanged today.
In 1947, a total of 364 children were born to inmates in 37 correctional
institutions across the United States, according to a study by Shepard and
Zemans (1950). The researchers found variation in state laws governing chil-
dren born to incarcerated mothers. Twenty of the correctional institutions
reported having no overarching state law, 13 indicated that there were state
laws in place, and the remaining facilities did not respond. For the 13 states
with such laws—California, Connecticut, Illinois, Kansas, Maine, Maryland,
Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Virginia,
and West Virginia—the major weakness was a failure to specify the amount
of time an infant or child could remain with their mother. They simply sug-
gested that the child should be removed when it was no longer healthy for the
child to remain in prison (Baunach, 1985; Shepard & Zemans, 1950). Thus,
the time mothers were allowed to keep their children varied greatly, and
many children were taken away almost immediately, whereas others remained
with their mothers for up to 3 years.
Programs that permitted children to remain with their incarcerated mothers
continued unrestricted until 1960. However, in 1960, federal judges grew
wary about the number of children residing at the women’s federal correc-
tional facility at Alderson. Their primary concern was the distance to the
Dodson et al.
575
nearest prenatal and postnatal care facilities. Two social workers from the
Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (DHEW) declared the prison
unsafe for children, essentially ending the practice of prison nurseries
(Heffernan, 1993). Nevertheless, as the number of incarcerated women surged
in the 1980s, there was a renewed call to develop and implement parenting
programs, provide special child visitation areas, and reintroduce prison nurs-
eries (Loper & Tuerk, 2006; Snyder, Carlo, & Coats Mullins, 2002).
Today, there are eight state correctional systems offering prison nursery pro-
grams (Illinois, Indiana, Nebraska, New York, Ohio, South Dakota, Washington,
and West Virginia). Although various sources report that California has a prison
nursery program, the only information available on the California Department
of Corrections website relates to the Community Prisoner Mother Program
(CPMP). However, CPMP does not meet the definition of a prison nursery
program because it is not offered within a correctional institution. Three years
ago, Wyoming lawmakers contributed US$1 million to prevent incarcerated
mothers from being separated from their newborns. The funding has been used
to renovate a building for a prison nursery and equipment has been donated for
its operation (Schrock, 2015), but the facility has not opened because of
Wyoming Department of Corrections staff shortages.
The guidelines for inmate mothers’ access to correctional facility nursery
program vary across locations, but extensive screening is typically required.
In general, the following criteria must be met before the individual can par-
ticipate. The child must be born while the mother is in state custody, and the
mother’s criminal record must be clear of violent crimes or a history of child
abuse or neglect (Mitchell, Dodson, & Cabage, 2018; Women’s Prison
Association, 2009). Policies regarding the length of stay and capacity of the
programs also vary from state to state, with the average stay for...
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