Incarcerated Mothers’ Parenting Prospects and the Associated Relational Issues With Their Children and Children’s Caregivers in Japan

Abstract

Reunification with children is expected to be an exciting prospect for incarcerated mothers, but reunification process is an immense challenge due to a wide range of relational issues with their children and children’s caregivers. This study aimed at identifying relational issues that may impede incarcerated mothers’ parenting prospects by analyzing data of the incarcerated mothers in Japan. The results found that majority of mothers (73.3%) had positive parenting prospects, while 26.7% of them had negative parenting prospects. Mothers with negative parenting prospects had less contacts during incarceration, less likely to perceive their relationships with the caregivers positively, their child was more likely to know of maternal incarceration and had fewer parenting-support resources available, especially from the family. Prison-based interventions that effectively address those relational issues are discussed, which considered to reduce potential barriers for future reunification.