Meeting the rights of children with imprisoned parents: findings from research in Northern Ireland

Meeting the rights of children with imprisoned parents: findings from research in Northern Ireland Linda Moore and UnaConvery University of Ulster

European Research: Meeting the rights of children with imprisoned parents • Coordinated by Danish Institute for Human Rights/EUROCHIPS and funded by European Commission • Studies in Denmark, Italy, Poland, NI • Report published May 2011 including recommendations to European Commission • Northern Ireland research ongoing

Children’s Rights • Respect for the best interests of the child • The right not to face discrimination • The right to be participate and be heard • The right to be protected • The right to respect for family life

Penal estate in NI: Maghaberry, Magilligan and Hydebank Wood

Issues researched in NI study • Arrest process • Remand, sentencing and imprisonment • Community and Social Context • Contact and visits • Release and resettlement • Sources of support for families

The Arrest process “I remember one morning saying ‘Look – my grandson’s here, he’s one and a half years old’. Didn’t care. Into his bedroom. Shuffled around. Wakened him up roaring. Dog barking … It was just, the house was just uproared! I’m left crying. My daughter’s left crying. The child’s left scared. And [other child’s] left crying and not wanting to go to school because it’s been so upsetting, whatever happened at five o’clock in the morning.” (Parent of prisoner)

Remand “Everybody keeps saying to me, ‘prepare yourself for him to have a sentence, just in case’ … I can’t take that into my head that he could do a life in jail.” (Mother with son in prison on remand)

Remand “I see the limbo they’re [women] in particularly on remand ... A lot of women who have children are on remand for a long time ... That is justice denied. ... One woman has a child being adopted against her will ... She’s constantly on a SPAR ... Those long remands shouldn’t happen to anybody.” (Professional)

Sentencing “The reports furnished to the court in relation to the boys emphasised that separation from their mother by her imprisonment would compound the distress the boys suffer from having already lost their father. There is no doubt that these are compelling circumstances especially when set against the overall context.” (R v Doyle [2010] NICC 26)

Prison for non-payment of fines “Every effort should be taken to keep women out of prison. ... Imagine putting a mother in prison for a fine. ... They use prisons as a dumping ground ... some of those people in authority should hang their heads in shame. ... It just impacts across the whole family.” (Professional)

Impact of long-term imprisonment “My [boy] says ‘Daddy, how long will you be in prison?’ and I says ‘Look, it’s really, really hard to know … but you’re talking over ten years’ … And he was sort of saying ‘that’s a really long time – I’ll be sort of nineteen’ … They can’t fathom ten years.” (Father in prison)

Community Reactions “The issue [of stigma] affects many prisoner families but especially sex offenders’ families. Those folk withdraw, which creates a host of other issues. They experience fear of the offender, fear of the community, fear of trying to step out to start a life.” (Professional) “We were tortured by reporters. ... had windows put in, phone call threats.” (Mother)

Community Reactions “[Their mother] had to take them out of school and then she had to eventually move ... and then they re-schooled them ...” (Father in prison) “Not bothered if people find out… I’d just headbutt them… Anybody that talks about ye, ya just headbutt them.” (Boy aged 12)

Telling children “I thought honesty is probably the best policy so I told them. I didn’t go into the detail and all but I told them he’d been naughty and he’s been taken to jail for a while.” (Mother, focus group) “You hear prisoners saying to their children “I’m at work…” (Father in prison)

Telling children “My older son, my fourteen year old, he was able to Google me, he was able to read the news reports”. (Father in prison) “The more information they got, they were definitely able to cope with it.” (Father in prison)

Prison Service Policies Development of Family Strategy Role of Family Support Officers and Family Support Groups Child-Centred Visits Financial support for work of independent organisation (eg through visitors’ centres, transport)

Family Contact “It’s extortionate... it’s £20 a week I put in but it’s crazy. … the bill works out at a thousand forty pound a year.” (Father in Prison) “He mostly phones his friends … I’ve really nothing to tell him about me. [He asks] ‘what’s happening?’, ‘Not very much, son – what’s happening with you?’ ‘Not very much’”. (Mother)

Family Contact “The [NIACRO] bus leaves Derry to be here for half eleven but sometimes it doesn’t make it. Then sometimes your visitors can be turned away because they’re too late. Its getting to them. The kids be knackered ... and whatever else.” (Father in prison)

Children’s Views of Visits “There’s a play pen in the corner just when you go in the door and you go over there and you either play or draw… They’ve got wee dolls and they’ve got tractors and stuff.” (Girl aged 8) “I’m afraid of those dogs.” (Girl aged 10) “Boring.” (Boy aged 9) “It [a closed visit] was class. It was actually class in there… trust me, it was the best craic [fun] ever.’ (Boy aged 13)

Emotional impact of visits “The first visit was bad because they both started crying and didn’t want to leave. The second one [visit] was bad and the third one’s better.” (Father in prison)

Emotional impact of visits “After the first visit I had to take [my son] to A&E in the middle of the night ... he had really bad stomach pains. ... they couldn’t find anything wrong with him ... the doctor thought it might be stress.” (Mother) “I’ve been going for 7 years and I still have to lay down when I get home. It just drains you.” (Mother)

Security and Children’s Visits “You know children coming in, they have to get the dog sniffed at them and my wee girl’s two ... she was even searched at two years of age, you know patted down. And that’s why I don’t believe in my six year old coming up. Because he’s going to get patted down, and if you’re ... trying to smoke-screen it that you’re in prison so it’s not affecting them in later life. The shame my daddy was in prison.” (Father in prison)

Child-Centred Visits “Family visits are great, great all round, for the kids are able to get up and move about and stuff.” (Father in Prison) “The child centred visits are unbelievable like, really, really brilliant – love them.” (Father in Prison) “It means a lot to him, it’s seeing wee stupid things like swinging him and running up and down and chasing him.” (Father in Prison)

Staff Discretion “I found out down [Magilligan] there that the officers were actually quite nice, so they were.” (Mother, focus group) “There’s not even chat out of them [Magilligan officers]… you’re on edge because you know they’re looking at you as if ‘what are you playing at?’” (Father in prison) “Some of them [prison officers] are very good, but some of them are just down right awful.” (Mother)

Punishing Children “I was like ‘Why are you taking child centred visits off me for?’ and he said ‘It’s clear … that cellular confinement has no affect on you, this is the third time you’ve been down’.” (Father in prison)

Valuing Support “[NGO] ... very good at explaining even your benefits and all.” (Woman, focus group) “[NGO family support worker] showed me everything ....” (Woman with partner in prison) ‘If I could take my shirt off, I’d give it to [the family officer]. He’s made me a stronger person… He’s there to help me genuinely. He’s given me the information I needed. Sat there and talked to me.’ (Mother, focus group)

Supporting each other “I think the groups are very supportive. You think at the time, the old thing “why me? What have I ever done?”. But you go to the group and you’ll find maybe twelve other women there whose in exactly the same boat as yourself – if not worse – you know? You do blame yourself for a lot and really and truly, just listening to other mothers it seems to be a thing that mothers do do, is blame themselves, you know?”

Release from Prison “That’s one reason why I’m dreading [my son] getting out, because of the Police. They hound him, put pressure on him. They’re going to undo everything that I have done for this last two and a half years”. (Mother)

Release from Prison “Resources seem to go in to [security] rather than the prisoners. There needs to be more on resettlement, more resources, focus, effort, time and planning and keeping family links. That will have a huge impact on families outside. ... If anything like the effort put into security was put into family resettlement it would make a huge difference.” (Professional)

Some Conclusions • We need to: place children at the heart of policy and practice; • Create cultural change within community and criminal justice system; • Provide appropriate training; • Think creatively about services; • Bolster the role of independent organisations • Contact details Una Convery uv.convery@ulster.ac.uk • Linda Moore l.moore1@ulster.ac.uk

Meeting the rights of children with imprisoned parents: findings from research in Northern Ireland