With Mum or Dad in Prison: Children Who Live with Their Imprisoned Parents

Abstract

It is one thing be separated from your imprisoned parent and come visit in a prison. It is quite another to move into a prison and live there on a daily basis, even though you have not been sentenced to imprisonment. This is actually a fairly standard practice in many countries around the world and primarily involves underage children. Such a situation can arise when an imprisoned mother is pregnant and gives birth to a child during her sentence. But it is also quite common for some mothers to take their young children with them into prison. The extremely difficult human rights dilemma (see Chapter 6) is how to strike a balance between two competing truths: prisons are not suitable places for children to live, but separating a young child from the primary caregiver is generally a very bad idea.