Incarcerated Mothers and Their Children: Implications for Policy and Practice

This chapter integrates findings about maternal involvement in the criminal justice system presented in the Brief’s six empirical chapters with what is previously known about incarcerated mothers and their children. We apply an intergenerational developmental ecological perspective to the results and discuss the attachment-related themes of separation, loss, and reunion that were addressed in the introduction. We also highlight important points from each chapter and attempt to integrate where there are intersections among issues related to prevention and intervention, gender-responsive programs, and themes of trauma, addiction, child welfare involvement, low-resource environments, and resilience. We briefly touch on issues related to the worldwide novel coronavirus pandemic and the Black Lives Matter movement as related to this volume and the study of incarcerated mothers and their children. Lastly, we present policy and practice implications of the research, including implications for prevention efforts for mothers involved in the criminal justice system and their children and families.