Female Prisoners and Mother—Child Separation 327Literature ReviewAs the case illustrations show, there are many issues involved when dealing with
children of incarcerated parents. Indeed, children are not the only ones who can
experience the negative consequences of being separated. In Leslie's instance, the
incarcerated mother may feel embarrassed and guilty about being in jail and having
to subject her children to such an environment. These mothers may not even want
their children to visit them in jail or prison (Hairston, 1991b). Many incarcerated
mothers report that the worst part of being incarcerated is having to be separated
from their children (Church, 1990; Hairston, 1991b). Even if they want to see
their children, other factors may prevent them from attending visiting days. Often
women's prisons are in places far away from children's homes and in areas difficult
to reach by public transportation, making it difficult for traveling (Church, 1990;
Riser, 1991).
Similar to Annie's case, sometimes the children are placed with foster families
during the mother's incarceration, and the foster parents may not want the child to
visit the mother because of their own desires to adopt the child (Osborne, 1995).
Sometimes even the mother's own relatives do not want the children to visit her
in prison (Riser, 1991). A survey conducted by Hairston (1991b) found that 71%
of incarcerated mothers had not had any visitation with their children during their
period of confinement.
When children lose their mother to incarceration, there are many negative conse-
quences. Kiser (1991) found that children felt they were to blame for their mother's
offense and became very depressed. They continued to experience these negative
emotions years after the mother's incarceration and some even attempted suicide.
Falk (1995) noted that children feel powerless when they have to sit by and watch
their mothers go to jail. Any attachments that are present must be put on hold until
the mother returns. The author stated that these children experience grief emotions
such as anger, denial, and depression. They may withdraw from others, or they may
begin to act out and become aggressive. Feinman (1994) suggested that children ex-
perience emotions such as insecurity, lack of trust, confusion, and loneliness. These
emotions can show themselves in mental and physical illnesses and a drop in school
grades; M. C. Moses (1995) reported similar consequences for children. They "are
more likely to experience anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress symptoms, ag-
gression, attention disorders, truancy and a decline in school performance. These
children also are more likely to become pregnant in their teens" (M. C. Moses,
1995, p. 125).
If a child loses his or her mother to incarceration, then who takes care of the child?
Hairston s (1991b) survey found that in 34% of the cases, the maternal grandmother
became the caretaker. These children often live with relatives or friends of the
mother. If these are not possibilities, then state-financed foster families care for
them (Falk, 1995; Osborne, 1995). Occasionally, siblings have to be separated
and live in different homes (Falk, 1995), thus increasing the loss they experience.