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

• Published date: 01 December 2023
• Author: Amber Wilson,Barbara Koons‐Witt,Nicola Pasquire
• Date: 01 December 2023
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/fare.12807

RESEARCH

Mothering experiences in prison: Exploring

distinctions between maternal and paternal

caregiving arrangements

Amber Wilson

1

|Barbara Koons-Witt

2

|Nicola Pasquire

2

1

Department of Political Science, University of

Wisconsin–Eau Claire, Eau Claire, WI

2

Department of Criminology and Criminal

Justice, University of South Carolina,

Columbia, SC

Correspondence

Amber Wilson, Department of Political

Science, University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire,

Hibbard Humanities Hall 401, 124 Garfield

Avenue, Eau Claire, WI 54701 USA.

Email: wilsoam@uwec.edu

Funding information

Social Sciences Grant Program at the

University of South Carolina

Abstract

Objective: The current study considers the mothering expe-

riences of incarcerated women to identify important differ-

ences between maternal and paternal caregivers and

explore how these arrangements influence mother–child

relationships.

Background: Many incarcerated mothers decide who will

care for minor children in their absence, often depending

on relatives to care for children. Researchers have not yet

explored the differential experiences of incarcerated

mothers whose children are cared for by maternal and

paternal caregivers.

Method: This study uses semistructured interviews with

incarcerated mothers. Researchers engaged in thematic

and comparative analyses to identify differences in mater-

nal and paternal mother–caregiver dyads.

Results: Mothers whose children lived with maternal care-

givers received support from caregivers and were afforded

co-parenting opportunities. In contrast, mothers whose

children lived with paternal caregivers experienced limited

information sharing and attempts to exclude them from

parental decision-making.

Conclusion: Mothers highlighted the importance of their

maternal mother–caregiver relationships, as well as their

mother–child relationships. With less support from pater-

nal caregivers, mothers depended on maternal relatives to

serve as an intermediary or resigned themselves to tempo-

rarily suspending their maternal role.

Author note: This research was conducted through the cooperation of the South Carolina Department of Corrections (SCDC). The data

used for this article were collected as part of a project funded by the Social Sciences Grant Program at the University of South Carolina

(UofSC). The views and statements contained within this paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the

funding organization (UofSC) or the cooperating agency (SCDC).

Received: 22 March 2022Revised: 21 October 2022Accepted: 13 November 2022

DOI: 10.1111/fare.12807

© 2022 National Council on Family Relations.

2754 Family Relations. 2023;72:2754–2776.wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/fare

Implications: Prisons can promote positive mother–

caregiver relationships by providing counseling and can

support mother–child relationships through various con-

tact programs. Parent educators can work with incarcer-

ated mothers to identify maternal intermediaries, and

formal agencies can target interventions to include mater-

nal intermediaries and provide additional assistance to

caregivers.

KEYWORDS

caregiving arrangements, gatekeepers, incarcerated mothers, mother–

child relationships

Research indicates that most incarcerated women are mothers (60%–80%; Aiello &

McQueeney, 2021) who have left behind more than 130,000 minor children in the community

(Maruschak et al., 2021). Upon their arrest, many incarcerated women are tasked with securing

childcare for their minor children during their incarceration (Enos, 2001). These women are

more likely to depend on their own relatives as long-term caregivers (67%), although other care-

giving arrangements are sometimes made (Glaze & Maruschak, 2010). Although much of the

current literature has focused on the co-parenting dynamics of caregivers and incarcerated par-

ents, including both incarcerated fathers and mothers (Loper et al., 2014; Miller et al., 2013;

Nesmith & Ruhland, 2011; Tasca, 2016), more recent work has begun to consider the differen-

tial experiences of incarcerated mothers with children’s caregivers (Aeillo & McQueeney, 2021;

Baker et al., 2010).

Grandmothers comprise the most common caregiving arrangement for minor children with

incarcerated mothers (42% of caregiving arrangements; Glaze & Maruschak, 2010), and thus

literature and research findings in this area have largely focused on this caregiving arrangement

(Aeillo & McQueeney, 2021; Baker et al., 2010; Pendleton et al., 2022; Strozier et al., 2011).

However, more than a third of minor children live with biological fathers during their mother’s

incarceration (Glaze & Maruschak, 2010). Given that the quality of mother–caregiver relation-

ships can have significant impacts on mothers’relationships with their children (Aiello &

McQueeney, 2021; Loper et al., 2014) and mothers likely have different relationships with their

own mother than with their children’s paternal relatives, it is important to begin to parse out

the distinctions of these mother–caregiver relationships. To gain a better understanding of these

unique caregiver dynamics, this study uses interviews with incarcerated mothers of minor chil-

dren to explore the women’s characterization of their mother–caregiver relationships and the

ways these relationships impact mother–child relationships, specifically as the relationships dif-

fer between maternal and paternal caregivers.

CAREGIVING ARRANGEMENTS

Before their incarceration, mothers are often the primary caregivers (Barnes & Stringer, 2014;

Mackintosh et al., 2006), and sometimes the sole caregivers (Cooper-Sadlo et al., 2019), for

minor children. Research suggests that more than half of incarcerated mothers reported living

with their minor children in the month before their arrest (55.3%), and 75% of those women

were the only caregiver living in the home (Glaze & Maruschak, 2010). Following a mother’s

incarceration, caregivers assume the responsibility for children, including caring for children’s

daily needs, making parenting decisions for children, and facilitating contact between an incar-

cerated mother and her children (Cecil et al., 2008). Caregiving arrangements may be especially

MOTHERING EXPERIENCES IN PRISON2755