ABSTRACT
Distant prison locations, inconvenient visiting schedules, and the negative effects of a mother's imprisonment on her children often complicate the child welfare professional's work with the children of incarcerated mothers. Prison regulations regarding communication and visiting, and the often distant location of correctional facilities, impede routine communication and interaction. Despite many shared experiences while imprisoned, inmate mothers are not a homogeneous group with respect to their prior living situations with their children. While the exact number of children of incarcerated mothers is unknown, estimates placed it at 1.5 million children in 1994. Most of the interviewed caregivers had been an integral part of the mothers' and daughters' lives prior to the mother's incarceration, the majority living with them. Sixteen mothers and 13 daughters completed the Hudson Parent-Child Contentment Scale twice, and six mothers and four daughters completed it three times, at roughly six-month intervals.
