The Impact of Infants in Prison on Institutional Life: A Study of the Mother/Infant Prison Programme in Western Australia

Abstract

The Western Australian prison system, following trends of other prison systems in the western world, has embarked upon a limited programme of accommodating infants with their prisoner mothers during the mother's term of imprisonment. This research canvasses other mother/infant programmes noted in the literature, pointing to the special nature of the Western Australian situation. The focus of the study is on the impact of infants in prison on institutional life and the management problems so engendered. The data indicate that overall, infants have a positive impact on prison life, muting some of the more debilitating effects of institutionalization. The finding that the impact of the mother/infant prison programme is more peripheral to institutional life than expected is explained in the light of the obduracy of the "total institution". The major concerns expressed by those interviewed: prison staff, prisoner mothers and other prisoners, are, respectively: prisoner management, mother/infant prison facilities and family ties, and concerns of justice. With these issues in mind, problems of the current programme are discussed together with suggested resolutions.