ABSTRACT
There has been sharp growth in recent decades in the numbers of women (and, by extension, mothers) criminalized and incarcerated in Canada and the United States. Among these, women of colour and poor mothers are disproportionately represented, in part due to public beliefs that hold black and Indigenous mothers to a higher standard; to historical patterns of punitiveness toward people of colour; and to criminal justice practices of over-policing and differentially prosecuting members of poor communities. Mothers subject to violence by intimate partners are also at increased risk of becoming justice-involved, sometimes through efforts to protect themselves or their children. Incarcerated women suffer from greater and more serious psychological problems than do incarcerated men, possibly due to separation from their families, and the adverse impacts of maternal incarceration on children can be long-lasting. Pointing to the current propensity to invest in law and order policies and costly post-incarceration proceedings to determine the best interest of the child, the authors note the gaps in services that could fulfil pre-incarceration needs of mothers and families before criminalization occurs.
