Preschool Outcomes of Children Who Lived as Infants in a Prison Nursery

This study examined long-term outcomes of children who spent their first one to eighteen months in a US prison nursery. Behavioral development in 47 preschool children who lived in a prison nursery was compared with 64 children from a large national dataset who were separated from their mothers because of incarceration. Separation was associated with significantly worse anxious/depressed scores, even after controlling for risks in the caregiving environment. Findings suggest that prison nursery co-residence with developmental support confers some resilience in children who experience early maternal incarceration. Co-residence programs should be promoted as a best practice for incarcerated childbearing women....

Empirical data on development of infants and toddlers during the prison nursery stay suggests positive or neutral short-term outcomes. Children who resided in the nurseries in New York State and whose mothers received an additional developmentally supportive nursing intervention showed motor and mental development within normal limits during the nursery stay (Byrne, 2010). Rates of secure attachment were not significantly different than those seen in low-risk community groups of children (Byrne, Goshin, & Joestl, 2010). This is the inverse of what would be expected given the disproportionately high percentage of their mothers who had insecure attachment or unresolved trauma in their own childhoods (Borelli, Goshin, Joestl, Clark, & Byrne, 2010). Infants and toddlers in Spanish prison nurseries were also found to be developing within normal limits (Jiménez and Palacios, 2003). Infants who spent their first months of life in English prison nurseries in the 1980s showed progressive declines in motor and cognitive scores during the nursery stay (Catan, 1992). Development returned to what is considered normal within a month of release.

Results appear, as would be expected, to be related to the quality of the nursery environment. Available descriptions of current US programs differ widely from those in the UK at the time of the Catan study, which were described as restrictive. The prison service of England and Wales implemented changes in the Mother-Baby Units (Her Majesty’s Prison Service, 2008), but to our knowledge no further evaluation research has been disseminated. Descriptions of current US programs suggest an enriched environment. Nurseries in the US are generally segregated away from other prison facilities, renovated specifically to house children, and staffed by civilians in addition to correction officers. Programming focuses on developing the relationship between incarcerated mothers and their infants, promoting child development, and providing parenting and life skills education (Byrne, 2010; Fearn, & Parker, 2004; Kauffman, 2006)...

Table 1

Demographic Characteristics of Former Prison Nursery Resident and Separated Families

	Prison Nursery (n = 47)			Separated (n = 64)
	%	n	M (SD)	%	n	M (SD)
Caregiver relationship
Mother	79	37		89	57
Nonmaternal caregiver	21	10		11	7
Maternal Race/Ethnicitya
Black, Non-Latina* (African, African-American, West Indian)	32	15		70	44
Latina	23	11		22	14
White, Non-Latina*	45	21		8	5
Maternal age at child’s birth, Years			28.0 (6.6)			24.8 (5.4)
Under 20 years of age	6	3		17	11
Married at child’s birth*	17	8		2	1
High school/general equivalency diploma at child’s birthb	72	34		56	36

*p ≤ .01

Table 2

Behavior problems and risks in the caregiving environment of former prison nursery resident and separated preschoolers

	%	Prison Nursery (n = 47)			%	Separated (n = 64)
		n	M (SD)	Range		n	M (SD)	Range
Behavior Problems
Aggressivea			12.4 (7.8)	0 – 27			14.2 (8.3)	1 – 33
Attention Deficit/Hyperactivea			5.7 (3.1)	1 – 12			6.3 (3.1)	0 – 11
Anxious/Depresseda*			3.2 (2.4)	0 – 8			4.4 (2.6)	0 - 10
Withdrawn*			1.6 (1.8)	0 - 6			2.3 (2.2)	0 - 9
Ecological Risks
Substance use/problem drinking
Prenatalb	35	16			36	23
Past 12 months	28	13			20	13
Public assistance	87	41			84	54
Elevated parenting distressc
	17	8			23	15
Harsh Parenting
Swore or cursed	36	17			22	14
Physical assault	77	36			80	51
Neglect	11	5			14	9
Risk Scale			3.2 (1.5)	0 - 7			3.2 (1.5)	0 – 7

aSeparated sample n = 50

bPrison nursery sample n = 49

cSeparated sample n = 63

*p ≤ .05

Note: Risk scale is the sum of maternal education at the child’s birth (1 = less than high school/general equivalency diploma), prenatal substance use, substance use in the past 12 months, current receipt of public assistance, high parenting distress, swearing or cursing, minor physical assault in the past 12 months, neglect in the past 12 months

Full article at:  http://goo.gl/tqNqO9

By:  Lorie S. Goshin, Mary W. Byrne, and Barbara Blanchard-Lewis

Columbia University School of Nursing

Correspondence concerning this article should be address to: Lorie S. Goshin, PhD, RN, Assistant Professor, Hunter-Bellevue School of Nursing, 425 East 25th Street, Room 428W, New York NY 10010. Phone: (212) 481-4377, Fax: (212) 481-8237, Email: ude.ynuc.retnuh@nihsogl

Lorie S. Goshin is now at Hunter-Bellevue School of Nursing.

More at:  https://twitter.com/hiv_insight

And:        http://twitter.com/Prison_Health