Meeting the rights of children with
imprisoned parents: findings from
research in Northern Ireland
Linda Moore and Una Convery
University of Ulster
European Research: Meeting the rights of
children with imprisoned parents
 Coordinated
by Danish Institute for
Human Rights/EUROCHIPS and funded
by European Commission
 Studies in Denmark, Italy, Poland, NI
 Report published May 2011 including
recommendations to European
Commission
 Northern Ireland research ongoing
Children’s Rights
 Respect
for the best interests of the child
 The right not to face discrimination
 The right to be participate and be heard
 The right to be protected
 The right to respect for family life
Penal estate in NI: Maghaberry,
Magilligan and Hydebank Wood
Issues researched in NI study
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Arrest process
Remand, sentencing and imprisonment
Community and Social Context
Contact and visits
Release and resettlement
Sources of support for families
The Arrest process
“I remember one morning saying ‘Look –
my grandson’s here, he’s one and a half
years old’. Didn’t care. Into his bedroom.
Shuffled around. Wakened him up roaring.
Dog barking … It was just, the house was
just uproared! I’m left crying. My
daughter’s left crying. The child’s left
scared. And [other child’s] left crying and
not wanting to go to school because it’s
been so upsetting, whatever happened at
five o’clock in the morning.” (Parent of
prisoner)
Remand
“Everybody keeps saying to me, ‘prepare
yourself for him to have a sentence, just in
case’ … I can’t take that into my head that
he could do a life in jail.” (Mother with son
in prison on remand)
Remand
“I see the limbo they’re [women] in
particularly on remand ... A lot of women
who have children are on remand for a
long time ... That is justice denied. ... One
woman has a child being adopted against
her will ... She’s constantly on a SPAR ...
Those long remands shouldn’t happen to
anybody.” (Professional)
Sentencing
“The reports furnished to the court in
relation to the boys emphasised that
separation from their mother by her
imprisonment would compound the
distress the boys suffer from having
already lost their father. There is no doubt
that these are compelling circumstances
especially when set against the overall
context.” (R v Doyle [2010] NICC 26)
Prison for non-payment of fines
“Every effort should be taken to keep
women out of prison. ... Imagine putting
a mother in prison for a fine. ... They use
prisons as a dumping ground ... some of
those people in authority should hang
their heads in shame. ... It just impacts
across the whole family.” (Professional)
Impact of long-term
imprisonment
“My [boy] says ‘Daddy, how long will you
be in prison?’ and I says ‘Look, it’s really,
really hard to know … but you’re talking
over ten years’ … And he was sort of
saying ‘that’s a really long time – I’ll be
sort of nineteen’ … They can’t fathom ten
years.” (Father in prison)
Community Reactions
“The issue [of stigma] affects many prisoner
families but especially sex offenders’
families. Those folk withdraw, which creates
a host of other issues. They experience fear
of the offender, fear of the community, fear
of trying to step out to start a life.”
(Professional)
“We were tortured by reporters. ... had
windows put in, phone call threats.”
(Mother)
Community Reactions
“[Their mother] had to take them out of
school and then she had to eventually
move ... and then they re-schooled them
...” (Father in prison)
“Not bothered if people find out… I’d just
headbutt them… Anybody that talks
about ye, ya just headbutt them.” (Boy
aged 12)
Telling children
“I thought honesty is probably the best
policy so I told them. I didn’t go into the
detail and all but I told them he’d been
naughty and he’s been taken to jail for a
while.” (Mother, focus group)
“You hear prisoners saying to their
children “I’m at work…” (Father in prison)
Telling children
“My older son, my fourteen year old, he
was able to Google me, he was able to read
the news reports”. (Father in prison)
“The more information they got, they were
definitely able to cope with it.” (Father in
prison)
Prison Service Policies
 Development
of Family Strategy
 Role of Family Support Officers and
Family Support Groups
 Child-Centred Visits
 Financial support for work of
independent organisation (eg through
visitors’ centres, transport)
Family Contact
“It’s extortionate... it’s £20 a week I put in but
it’s crazy. … the bill works out at a thousand
forty pound a year.” (Father in Prison)
“He mostly phones his friends … I’ve really
nothing to tell him about me. [He asks] ‘what’s
happening?’, ‘Not very much, son – what’s
happening with you?’ ‘Not very much’”.
(Mother)
Family Contact
“The [NIACRO] bus leaves Derry to be
here for half eleven but sometimes it
doesn’t make it. Then sometimes your
visitors can be turned away because
they’re too late. Its getting to them. The
kids be knackered ... and whatever else.”
(Father in prison)
Children’s Views of Visits
“There’s a play pen in the corner just when
you go in the door and you go over there and
you either play or draw… They’ve got wee
dolls and they’ve got tractors and stuff.” (Girl
aged 8)
“I’m afraid of those dogs.” (Girl aged 10)
“Boring.” (Boy aged 9)
“It [a closed visit] was class. It was actually
class in there… trust me, it was the best craic
[fun] ever.’ (Boy aged 13)
Emotional impact of visits
“The first visit was bad because they both
started crying and didn’t want to leave.
The second one [visit] was bad and the
third one’s better.” (Father in prison)
Emotional impact of visits
“After the first visit I had to take [my son] to
A&E in the middle of the night ... he had
really bad stomach pains. ... they couldn’t
find anything wrong with him ... the doctor
thought it might be stress.” (Mother)
“I’ve been going for 7 years and I still have
to lay down when I get home. It just drains
you.” (Mother)
Security and Children’s Visits
“You know children coming in, they have
to get the dog sniffed at them and my
wee girl’s two ... she was even searched
at two years of age, you know patted
down. And that’s why I don’t believe in
my six year old coming up. Because he’s
going to get patted down, and if you’re ...
trying to smoke-screen it that you’re in
prison so it’s not affecting them in later
life. The shame my daddy was in
prison.” (Father in prison)
Child-Centred Visits
“Family visits are great, great all round, for the
kids are able to get up and move about and
stuff.” (Father in Prison)
“The child centred visits are unbelievable like,
really, really brilliant – love them.” (Father in
Prison)
“It means a lot to him, it’s seeing wee stupid
things like swinging him and running up and
down and chasing him.” (Father in Prison)
Staff Discretion
“I found out down [Magilligan] there that
the officers were actually quite nice, so
they were.” (Mother, focus group)
“There’s not even chat out of them
[Magilligan officers]… you’re on edge
because you know they’re looking at you
as if ‘what are you playing at?’” (Father in
prison)
“Some of them [prison officers] are very
good, but some of them are just down right
awful.” (Mother)
Punishing Children
“I was like ‘Why are you taking child
centred visits off me for?’ and he said
‘It’s clear … that cellular confinement has
no affect on you, this is the third time
you’ve been down’.” (Father in prison)
Valuing Support
“[NGO] ... very good at explaining even your
benefits and all.” (Woman, focus group)
“[NGO family support worker] showed me
everything ....” (Woman with partner in
prison)
‘If I could take my shirt off, I’d give it to [the
family officer]. He’s made me a stronger
person… He’s there to help me genuinely.
He’s given me the information I needed. Sat
there and talked to me.’ (Mother, focus
group)
Supporting each other
“I think the groups are very supportive. You
think at the time, the old thing “why me?
What have I ever done?”. But you go to the
group and you’ll find maybe twelve other
women there whose in exactly the same boat
as yourself – if not worse – you know? You
do blame yourself for a lot and really and
truly, just listening to other mothers it seems
to be a thing that mothers do do, is blame
themselves, you know?”
Release from Prison
“That’s one reason why I’m dreading [my
son] getting out, because of the Police.
They hound him, put pressure on him.
They’re going to undo everything that I
have done for this last two and a half
years”. (Mother)
Release from Prison
“Resources seem to go in to [security]
rather than the prisoners. There needs to
be more on resettlement, more resources,
focus, effort, time and planning and
keeping family links. That will have a huge
impact on families outside. ... If anything
like the effort put into security was put into
family resettlement it would make a huge
difference.” (Professional)
Some Conclusions
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We need to: place children at the heart of policy
and practice;
Create cultural change within community and
criminal justice system;
Provide appropriate training;
Think creatively about services;
Bolster the role of independent organisations
Contact details Una Convery
uv.convery@ulster.ac.uk
Linda Moore l.moore1@ulster.ac.uk