Motherhood In and After Prison: The Impact of Maternal Incarceration

Motherhood In and After Prison describes the devastating impact of sending mothers to prison, including on the women, their children, wider family and place in society. Using the same lens as for her acclaimed Mothering Justice (Waterside Press, 2015) and with special access to incarcerated mothers, Lucy Baldwin combines her vast experience of criminal and social justice with their own words to: Introduce readers to the lives of imprisoned women; Describe how before, during and after prison they were treated differently, their maternal identity and role was 'spoiled' and they needed to continually 'renegotiate motherhood'; Draw out key themes from her own findings and what was previously known about the imprisonment of women; Put forward recommendations for positive change. The book will be of interest to a national and international readership of policymakers, educators, practitioners, feminists, and women's groups. Extract: 'I don't have much contact with my daughter, my ex has her whilst I'm in here and he don't want me to have contact with her, it's just an excuse to punish me and control me like he always does. He don't care that it punishes her too. God knows what he's saying to her about me.' (Melanie)

Table of Contents:
Foreword by Lady Edwina Grosvenor; Preface; List of Abbreviations. PART I - Overview. Introduction; Gendered Criminal Justice; The Making of Motherhood; The Mothers. PART II - Findings. Pre-Prison Experiences; Entering the Prison Space and Early Days; Distant Mothering and Grandmothering; Regimes, Rules and Relationships; Renegotiating Motherhood; Trust and Surveillance; Trauma and Pain. PART III - Conclusions and Recommendations. Drawing Together the Evidence. References and Bibliography. Index.

About the Author :
Dr Lucy Baldwin is a Senior Lecturer in Criminology at De Montfort University. Her career has encompassed working with Social Services, the Probation Service and Prisons, which led her to research the entire spectrum of maternal imprisonment and become a campaigner for the better treatment of women by the justice system. She is the author of the acclaimed Mothering Justice: Working With Mothers in Criminal and Social Justice Settings (Waterside Press, 2015), the first whole book in the UK to take motherhood and criminal justice as its focus.

Review :
‘Lucy Baldwin’s important book explores the wider context of the imprisonment of women … Written with passion, Motherhood in and After Prison presents powerful evidence of the enduring harm caused by the imprisonment of mothers and offers sound recommendations for change in policy and practice’-- Dr Rona Epstein, Coventry University Law Journal; 'This timely book beautifully educates without judgement and is a must read for policymakers and practitioners alike, driving home a most critical message about the colossal and devastating impact of imprisoning mothers'-- Lady Edwina Grosvenor (from the Foreword).