ABSTRACT
The majority of mothers chose who would look after their children, and only a few were dissatisfied about the arrangements because they had been made without their consent. The effects of separation on the children manifested themselves in a variety of internalising and externalising adaptions that have the potential to cause long-term harm. It will be argued that these emotions are likely to be intensified or minimised by a series of different factors during and post-custody. The existing literature indicates that younger children will be most affected by the departure of a mother, because unlike older children, they do not see themselves as separate from their mother. According to many sources, prisoners’ children are three times more likely to have mental health problems than children in the general population. The ‘internalised’ adaptions by the children had consequences for their educational performance, although this was not to the same extent as suggested in research.
