ABSTRACT
Following the imprisonment of their children, we analyse how the process of prison visitation was experienced by parents. Our analysis is largely critical of the ways in which prison visitation made it challenging to undertake visits, encompassing compliance with complex rules and regulations and the sense of powerlessness and frustration which emerged from the parents’ narratives. We finalise the chapter by charting what we term the ‘porousness of visitation and prison culture’ in providing parents with a glimpse into the realities of prison life during visits, including the ways these moments can increase the level of fear and uncertainty about the welfare of their children inside.
