Keeping connected while living apart: an exploration of a prison contact maintenance program

Abstract

With the increase in incarceration rates, researchers have turned their attention to the broader social implications of removing family members from home and putting them behind bars. This causes a major disruption, particularly when considering the impact this has on the family when the mother is the one in prison. In order to alleviate these harms, contact maintenance programs, which are designed to provide enhanced contact between parents and children during periods of incarceration, are instituted to help maintain these relationships. The purpose of this project is to explore incarcerated women’s perspectives of one of these programs, the Connecting with Kids Program (CKP), at a Midwestern correctional facility (MCF). Thirty-four in-depth interviews were conducted with participants in the program, and themes surrounding the unique services provided emerged, such as enhanced visitation programs and technologically enhanced communication and the privacy and family environment fostered by these programs. These findings have important implications for future policies regarding gender specific prison programing, contact maintenance programs, and incarcerated people’s welfare and societal reintegration.