ABSTRACT

It is not the purpose of this short conclusion to list the points raised by previous contributors, but rather to raise issues which encompass those points.

It will be apparent from previous chapters that, although there is now some recognition of the position of prisoners’ children, they still remain the Cinderella of the penal system, largely unrecognized and uncared for, and a potential reservoir of future criminality and deviant social behaviour. Such attention as they have received is due to the commitment of individual members of criminal justice, teaching, and health service agencies, charitable bodies, and voluntary groups. Virtually no serious attention has ever been paid to the children of prisoners by government ministers, whatever the complexion of the party in power, and only a little by organizations representing people who work in the justice system.