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This report was published by the former Department of Families, Community Services (FaCS).
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Executive Summary

The imprisonment rate in Australia has increased 28 per cent in the past decade with female imprisonment increasing by 44 per cent in the past five years. As the size of the prison population rises, the number of families affected by the imprisonment of a parent also increases.

Prisoner characteristics

More than 90 per cent of all prisoners are males. Before incarceration these men are often unemployed, many are not functionally literate and up to 20 per cent may have an intellectual disability. The main crimes for which males are sentenced are break and enter, robbery and sex offences.

The typical female offender is young, economically and socially disadvantaged, may have been diagnosed with a mental health problem before imprisonment and has dependent children. Life before jail for many women and their children is characterised by unsettled housing, low incomes, social isolation, substance abuse and domestic violence.

The majority of females are sentenced for non-violent crimes with drug offences and fraud being the most common. A marked difference in offending patterns of Indigenous and non-Indigenous women was identified with Indigenous women frequently being jailed for not paying fines and drunkenness.

Fourteen per cent of the Indigenous women prisoners in Western Australia speak an Aboriginal dialect as their main language. This finding has implications for effective communication with Indigenous people at all stages of the criminal justice and welfare systems.

Prisoners' children

The number of children who have a parent in prison in Australia is unknown as such data is not collected. An estimate of the number of children affected by parental imprisonment can be gauged from a 1999 New South Wales study that found that on any given day in that state, 11 000 children had a parent in jail.

Not only is there a lack of data on the number of children with a parent in prison, but also information on what happens to these children while their parent is incarcerated-where they live and how they are cared for-is also unknown.

Little research has been conducted on families affected by incarceration. From the research that has been conducted it has been found that:

It appears that an indirect effect of the justice system is to foster intergenerational offending. It was found that imprisoning a parent increases the likelihood of their children becoming incarcerated by up to six times.

The legal, prison, welfare and education systems usually overlook the special needs of prisoners' children. Failure to recognise and address the needs of these children and their carers can be costly, both economically and socially, as prisoners' children often show emotional, social and behavioural problems (which sometimes lead to criminal behaviour), have health problems and perform poorly at school. The problems of these children over their lifetime are likely to incur increased social welfare, justice and health costs, and conversely, reduced income from taxes.

Social and emotional stress

'Children whose parents are incarcerated experience a variety of negative consequences, particularly in terms of their emotional health and wellbeing' (Seymour 1998, p.472). These children often experience social stigma and isolation and a range of strong emotions such as:

The children of female prisoners' experience greater disruption as a result of incarceration than those of male prisoners, as women are often the primary caregivers and in the majority of cases, the sole parent before imprisonment. Early maternal separation and interruptions to the attachment-bonding process have been identified as causing serious long-term emotional difficulties.

Older children of an incarcerated parent are frequently expected to assume adult responsibilities and in many cases protect the adults in their lives. Some are left to fend for themselves. Women prisoners have reported their children being unprotected and vulnerable while the women are in prison. Some women reported sexual assault, neglect, physical and emotional abuse of their children and one study found 'a significant number of girls (aged 13 to 14 years) who became pregnant within a few months of their mothers' incarceration' (Seymour 1998, p.133).

Behaviour

Children of incarcerated parents often show behaviour patterns which include depression, using alcohol or drugs, self-harm, dysfunctional eating, disruptiveness in the classroom, truancy, attention seeking behaviour, learning problems and delinquency. These behaviours frequently surface during the parent's imprisonment however it is important to recognise that 'it is difficult to untangle the impact of imprisonment from the pressures to which prisoners and their families are often subject prior to imprisonment' (Healey et al. 2000, p.23). Children of imprisoned parents often end up on the streets and homeless because their temporary living arrangements do not work out. Many of these children consequently engage in offending behaviour.

Community support

The community is generally unaware of the difficulties that prisoners' families face and there is little sympathy for their situation. It is common for families to feel stigmatised and be ostracised, and for certain crimes committed by the imprisoned parent, such as paedophilia, this stigmatisation can be intensified.

'Some [prisoners' families] go to great lengths to hide the true reason for the absence of the spouse from friends and family, perhaps fearing very negative reactions' (Richards 1992, p.10). The level of support families of prisoners may receive from their extended family or a friend often depends on the nature of the offence and how much others know about what has happened.

Frequently a child's performance at school deteriorates and behavioural problems at school emerge when a parent is jailed. No formal procedures exist to advise schools that a child's parent is in custody and many teachers are unaware of children in their class who are in this situation.

Impact of the justice process on children of prisoners

Several studies have expressed concern at the way that children are dealt with when their parent is arrested and the lack of police protocols to deal appropriately with the children of an arrested person.

In one study almost 60 per cent of female offenders reported their children being with them at the time of their arrest. More than half 'reported incidences that were distressing for their children such as the rough handling or verbal abuse of the mother in front of the children ... children being questioned during raids' (Gursansky et al. 1998, p.29). Post-traumatic stress disorder has been identified in some children of prisoners with symptoms such as fear, sleep disturbances, withdrawal and impaired memory and concentration.

Parents who are unexpectedly arrested, remanded or sentenced have limited capacity to make preparations for their children. Many of the authors emphasised the vulnerability of children of prisoners at the point of remand and sentencing.

Several studies wrote of the 'seeming inability of various arms of the welfare, legal and justice systems to work together for the provision of care for such children ... with each [arm] seeing these groups as the responsibility of another organisation. The outcome of this is often complete invisibility and lack of service provision' (Gursansky et al. 1998, p.9).

Communication and relationship with imprisoned parent

Maintaining meaningful contact between an imprisoned parent and their children is extremely difficult. Prisons generally do not provide an environment that is conducive to maintaining family relationships. Many children do not visit their parent in prison and some have no contact at all with their incarcerated parent. Difficulties in maintaining relationships with their children have ramifications for the prisoners' parenting roles.

For many prisoners the telephone is their only means of talking directly to their children, but telephone access within the prison, cost of calls and time restrictions severely limit the telephone contact a prisoner can have.

Prison facilities are typically located in out-of-the-way areas, often long distances from where the children and caregivers live, making visiting extremely difficult for families with limited resources. Travel and accommodation costs are cited in the literature as being significant barriers to visiting.

Prisons are not 'child friendly'. There are long waiting periods at the gates and often no seats, toilets, or shelter in the waiting areas. Inside there is often limited access to play equipment and no outdoor play area. There is very little provision for parents to undertake activities with their children. In most prisons there are strict rules about seating arrangements and physical contact, which was identified as being very distressing to some children. 'Being unable to have physical contact with their parent ... can compound feelings of rejection and loss which may have already begun when the parent was incarcerated' (Standing Committee on Social Issues 1997, p.73).

Imprisonment of primary carer

Before imprisonment, the primary carer of the prisoner's children is usually the mother. When mothers are imprisoned many children become parentless as female offenders are often sole parents. Women prisoners have to rely on a range of people-including grandparents, aunts, uncles and foster carers-to provide care for their children.

In addition, the children of women prisoners are often separated from their siblings at the time of the mother's imprisonment or as subsequent placements break down. In one Australian study, 64 per cent of women prisoners said their children had two or more placements during the woman's incarceration. The Standing Committee on Law and Justice (1999b) highlighted the harmful effect of multiple placements and noted that children who have three or more placements have twice as many subsequent arrests as those who had fewer placements.

Several women's prisons in Australia have policies and facilities that enable young children to live with their mothers, however resource implications significantly impact on the number of women and children who can access these facilities. There are also restrictions on the upper age limit of the child (usually between one and three years) and the number of children who can live with their mother. Juveniles, those on remand, and men are rarely able to access parent- child live-in facilities.

Many prisons holding babies and young children have few specially trained staff, poor play and exercise facilities, and the development of movement skills is restricted ... The children have little opportunity to bond or form relationships with other family members (Vis 2000, p.3-4).

Imprisonment of a primary caregiver can also cause difficulties for others who are dependent on the prisoner such as their partner, adult children, and invalid or disabled parents.

Dislocation

Imprisonment of a parent can cause massive upheaval and dislocation for a child. It can result in a change in caregiver, school, friends, home and community. In the case of the children of a sole carer 'it can mean entry into the substitute care system and the possibility that they will be made wards of the state' (Standing Committee on Social Issues 1997, p.53).

State wards are an extremely vulnerable group in society. They are at risk of homelessness, drug abuse and entry into the juvenile justice system (Standing Committee on Social Issues 1997, p.57).

Caregivers

Caregivers tend to be late middle-aged to elderly or, if young, then frequently single parents themselves. Most are likely to be on benefits. In the case of the children of women prisoners, the caregiver is likely to be the child's grandparent or aunt.

Several studies reported a range of problems experienced by caregivers including:

Legal and bureaucratic difficulties associated with being a caregiver were also identified, including:

Caregivers identified issues of concern such as fatigue, an increase in physical and mental health problems and the need for respite. Often the caregiver 'is dealing with a child who may be profoundly depressed, traumatised and anxious because of his or her parent's imprisonment and who may not have any specialised assistance' (Standing Committee on Social Issues 1997, p.12).

Caregivers in informal care arrangements find 'there is no systematic response to help them and the children in their care adjust to this major disruption in their lives' (Phillips & Bloom 1998, p.534). It was emphasised that resources must be made available to support caregivers, even when there is no protective service interest in a child, and certainly before a crisis situation is reached.

Non-incarcerated parent issues

Maintaining meaningful contact with a partner in prison was described as being almost impossible. Healey et al. (2001) referred to the 'inmate losing touch with reality and thus being unable to empathise with the difficulties faced by family members ... The prison environment distances parents from their family relationships, physically and emotionally ... [and] can impede the capacity of the inmate to be a supportive parent and partner' (p.24). Several studies reported that marital and de facto relationships often do not survive the imprisonment period.

Financial stress

Families may experience serious financial problems as a result of the incarceration of a family member. In many instances the offender has been the family's primary income earner. In addition, families sometime drain their resources on the offender's legal costs and often take on additional expenses to maintain contact with the prisoner (such as expenses related to visiting, phone calls and providing financial support to the prisoner).

Information and advice

A major concern for many families when a parent or family member is imprisoned is how to tell the children. Frequently children are not told the truth about where their parent is, which can have far reaching consequences, and is condemned in the literature as being harmful to children.

Support needs

The loss of a parent, whether it is through divorce, death or separation has been well documented with research identifying that for many [children], there is a period of considerable grief and trauma. Research has shown that without proper supports, many of these children will often fail to get over this loss and may then under-achieve or engage in anti-social or self- destructive behaviour (Standing Committee on Social Issues 1997, p.53).

Families of prisoners are generally reluctant to use mainstream services because of the stigma attached to imprisonment and the lack of understanding in these services of the prison culture.

Access to specific and mainstream services depends on factors such as where families live, eligibility criteria, affordability and whether the agency has the resources to assist. These services include positions within government departments (for example Children of Prisoners Officer), government funded programs, programs offered by non-government agencies, services provided by voluntary and church groups and public and private health and mental health services.

Post-release

The issues affecting ex-offenders are complex and diverse. 'On the one hand, the matters that ultimately led to imprisonment may be unresolved and so still capable of influencing the life of the newly released prisoner, and on the other hand, the very fact of imprisonment may itself have given rise to altogether new problems that need to be addressed' (Ogilvie 2001, p.2).

Release also creates a crisis for the family of the prisoner. Families generally do not receive advice or preparation for the release. Throughout the period of the family member's imprisonment, the family has adapted to a changing situation. They now have to try and reintegrate the prisoner, who has also changed, but in response to an environment they were not part of.

Most mothers and a large proportion of fathers intend to reunite with their children on release, however incarcerated parents are ill prepared to resume their parenting roles. On release, parent-child relationships are usually strained due to unfamiliarity and uncertainty about roles and expectations. Children can feel intense anger and resentment towards the parent for what they have done, or a child may feel insecure and worried that further offending or imprisonment may occur.

There are few supports available to assist ex-offenders reunite with their families. 'Most current post-release services are focused on providing immediate financial, transport and accommodation services to prisoners in the crucial period after their release. There are longer-term needs which cannot be met by these types of services' (Standing Committee on Law and Justice 1999b, p.150).

One of the crucial longer-term needs is the renewing and renegotiating of family relationships. In addition to the damage imprisonment may have on these relationships, there is also often long-standing relationship damage from the offender's abusive, drug/alcohol affected, or criminal lifestyle before imprisonment. There are frequent mediation issues over custody of children, with caregivers and previous partners reluctant to hand children over to the ex-offenders.

Mortality rates are high for people recently released from prison and their children are particularly vulnerable at this point. Suicide of ex-offenders' children is not uncommon. A study being conducted at La Trobe University in Victoria into the mortality rates for women leaving prison found that 93 women prisoners died within 18 months of being released from prison. Of the 62 coronial files examined at the time this was reported, only two of the women had died of natural causes.

Ogilvie (2001) reported that 'the death rate of people serving a community corrections order was six times that of people in a comparable age group, with the most common cause being suicide, and the most common period being a few weeks after release from prison' (p.4).

Lack of accommodation for ex-offenders was identified as a major concern. Their access to housing through the open market 'is limited by poverty, discriminatory attitudes about prisoners, institutionalisation, [and] isolation' (Healey et al. 2001, p.31).

Crisis accommodation is in short supply. 'Many domestic violence shelters exclude people with drug problems, and many hostels exclude women with children ... These sorts of exclusions can seriously impede successful re-integration into the general community' (Ogilvie 2001, p.2).

Lack of appropriate accommodation is a major factor in extricating children from care. Some women whose children were taken into care were experiencing difficulties regaining their children six months after their release.

Indigenous

Indigenous people make up approximately 2 per cent of the Australian population yet nationally comprise about 20 per cent of the adult prisoner population. 'There is now a large body of work which confirms that Aborigines are over-represented at all stages of the criminal justice system-arrest rates, bail refusals and sentencing. This is true for adult males, adult females and juveniles' (Standing Committee on Social Issues 1997, p.42).

Issues relating to the incarceration of Indigenous people are complex. Many reports on Indigenous people and the criminal justice system referred to the profound impact that colonisation has had on Indigenous culture. These reports linked the high rate of Indigenous involvement in the criminal justice system to discrimination, poverty, dispossession, disadvantage and the vulnerability of Indigenous culture and family structures since European settlement.

The Standing Committee on Law and Justice (1999a) identified that incarceration of one generation impacts on later generations through the 'continued break down of family structures' (p.53). 'When fathers and young men are taken from their community and put in jail, the composition of the community changes and the social dynamics are changed. This affects all relationships and eventually impacts on community wellbeing as a whole. If a large proportion of the males from a community is absent, it seems even more likely that young Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders will not have a significant male figure in their lives' (Commission for Children and Young People and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Advisory Board 2001, p.15).

Policies and practices

The need for family policies within the justice system was highlighted in the literature. Several reports stressed the importance of the justice system recognising 'the impact of offending behaviour and imprisonment of a parent on a child' (VACRO 2000, p.12) and providing an environment that is conducive to rebuilding, renegotiating and maintaining ongoing family relationships.

The families of prisoners do not appear to be the core business of any government department and are often overlooked in developing and implementing new social policy or in changes to existing social policy and programs. In the literature, several authors argued for integrated family, social and economic policies and a whole-of-government approach to prisoners and their families.

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1. Introduction

Purpose, Methodology and Terminology