Children of Incarcerated Women in Brazil: Vulnerability and Traumatic Experiences in Their Lives

Abstract

This study aims at identifying possible traumatic experiences, feelings, and emotions faced by children of incarcerated women. A structured interview was conducted with 150 incarcerated women at a women's prison in Sao Paulo State, Brazil. Participants reported a total of 441 children, of which 297 were younger than 12 years old, and their average age was 7.5 years old. 67.4% of the children lived with their mothers at the time of incarceration, and 15.1% had witnessed their arrest. Participants reported that 24.02% of children were sad and 12.7% of them cried very much when their mothers were arrested. 57.3 % of the children were under the care of maternal relatives while their mothers were incarcerated, and in 20% of the cases the father of the child was also incarcerated. Mothers reported that 38.1% of the children were exposed to domestic violence by the father against the mother prior to incarceration. Results indicate several potential situations of vulnerability and trauma experienced by these chil...