Abstract
Motherhood and incarceration are controversial and sensitive issues. This study investigated the motherhood experiences of previously incarcerated mothers who raised their kids while in prison. The study used document analysis, a qualitative data collection method to gather how incarcerated women navigated motherhood while in prison. Some of the key findings of this study are that the state and incarcerated mothers recognises that prisons are not an environment to bring up a child and this justifies the removal of a child from the facility at the age of two. On the other hand, child psychologists emphasise the impact that early separation has on the child. Early separation is seen to have far worse effects as children are likely to engage in criminal behaviour as adolescence. This view suggests that removing the child from the mother affects how they socialize and interact with others in society. The slight differences between these arguments are the processes in which the children’s interests are achieved. The study also found that upon separation, contact between the mother and child is encouraged and supported by prison facilities. More so, findings suggests that women are encouraged to join parenting classes and skills programs amongst various other programmes offered by the prisons that are beneficial for maintaining livelihoods after incarceration.
Keywords: Motherhood; babies behind bars; incarceration; intervention programs; rehabilitation.