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Running Head: MOTHERHOOD in PRISON Running head: MOTHERHOOD IN PRISON Exploring the Communicative Construction of Motherhood in Prison ____________________________________ A Thesis Presented to The Honors Tutorial College Ohio University _______________________________________ In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for Graduation from the Honors Tutorial College with the degree of Bachelor of Science in Communication Studies ______________________________________ by Madison F. Sloat April 2019 MOTHERHOOD IN PRISON 2 For my dad, who taught me the power of curiosity and imagination, to trust my gut, and to dream enormously big: Thank you for never failing to believe in me, even when I haven’t believed in myself. For my mom, whose enormous heart and selfless spirit I can only hope to emulate one day: You are the mother I wish everyone could have. This thesis is a tribute to you. And thank you both for always encouraging me to write. MOTHERHOOD IN PRISON 3 Abstract This thesis explores the constructions of motherhood created and perpetuated by incarcerated mothers and correctional staff at two women’s prisons: a prison medical facility and a prison nursery program, both located in the United States. Findings from the interpretive analysis of the data—drawn from participant observations at both prisons and 52 interviews with inmates and prison staff—yielded one dominant construction of motherhood. Inmates and staff alike primarily focused on the constructed identity of a good mother. In line with this finding, four core themes emerged as significant: (a) motherhood as preeminent; (b) motherhood as feminine; (c) motherhood as growth; and (d) motherhood as sacrifice. These findings advanced scholarly conceptualiZations of identity construction, particularly with respect to the juxtaposition of stigmatiZed (i.e., inmate) and valoriZed identities (i.e., mother) and can be further explained through a structurational lens. Practically, these findings suggest the need for continued dedicated support for incarcerated mothers through prison programming and positive messaging surrounding good motherhood. Keywords: women in prison, motherhood, communication, identity MOTHERHOOD IN PRISON 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS PROLOGUE……………………………………………………………………………..5 CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION………………………………………………….7 CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW………………………………………...11 CHAPTER THREE: METHODS……………………………………………………..24 CHAPTER FOUR: FINDINGS……………………………………………………......42 Motherhood as Preeminent……………………………………………………....42 Motherhood as Feminine………………………………………………………...51 Motherhood as Growth…………………………………………………………..55 Motherhood as Sacrifice………………………………………………………....63 CHAPTER FIVE: DISCUSSION……………………………………………………..70 Theoretical Implications………………………………………………………....70 Practical Applications…………………………………………………………....77 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………….79 REFERENCES…………………………………………………………………………83 APPENDICES…………………………………………………………………………..92 Appendix A: SMC Inmates Interview Guide……………………………………92 Appendix B: SMC Staff Interview Guide……………………………………….94 Appendix C: PFP Inmates Interview Guide……………………………………..96 Appendix D: WCF Staff Interview Guide……………………………………...100 MOTHERHOOD IN PRISON 5 PROLOGUE: REFLECTIONS ON MOTHERHOOD A Prologue What is motherhood? Think, for a moment. When you think of the word motherhood, what comes to mind? Is motherhood… Beautiful? Joyous? Exciting? A blessing? Difficult? Intimidating? Disciplinary? Traumatic? Heartbreaking? Wanted? Unwanted? Physically close? Distant? Everywhere? For the short-term? Forever? By blood? Love? Pain? - Is it incarcerated? These are all questions that I have asked myself over the course of the past year. For me, motherhood is unwanted at the moment. As a college student with the buddings of a career ahead of me, I am not ready for, nor do I want, a child at this time. My experiences with motherhood stem from my mother, my grandmothers, my aunts, and mothers of close friends, who have shown me that motherhood cannot be contained in a single word. Motherhood, I have learned, is a significant part of their identities as individuals. Motherhood is a full-time job with no vacation days, but motherhood can also be a badge of pride worn proudly on one’s lapel. MOTHERHOOD IN PRISON 6 Motherhood is a beautiful, life-giving gift, but is also an incredible challenge and a role that requires hard work. Motherhood can be joy: bringing home a newborn baby; watching her take her first steps. Motherhood can be pain: suffering alongside a sick child; grieving the life of a lost son or daughter. Motherhood can become friendship: I have experienced this as I have transitioned into adulthood and consider my own mother a friend and confidante, an advocate and supporter. However, until recently, I never envisioned motherhood as incarcerated. When I thought of motherhood, I thought of physical proximity. I thought of hugs from my mom when I got home from school, the subtle smell of her perfume in my nose. I thought of seeing her and my father sitting proudly in the second row of the school cafeteria, laughing through my atrociously off-tempo elementary band concert. I thought of her at my dance recital, carefully smoothing my hair into its bun before I rushed back to the stage for my next number. I have never conceived motherhood as physical distance, as separation. Perhaps now, as a college student separated several hundred miles from my parents and my hometown, this distance is more comprehensible. Still, this distance is a choice. What I have learned is that motherhood cannot be marked or even defined by distance and that it exists in all spaces, including (and perhaps especially) behind bars. Defining motherhood is impossible, because motherhood is simultaneously a boundary and boundless, constraining and free, limiting and limitless. Motherhood is both unique and common, individual and universal. Motherhood is significant—and sometimes motherhood is incarcerated. MOTHERHOOD IN PRISON 7 CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION Introduction In 2014, the United States was home to 43.5 million mothers between the ages of 15 and 50, who had given birth to 95.8 million children (United States Census Bureau, 2017). A growing number of those mothers lived behind bars. The U.S. Department of Justice found that “since 1991, the number of children with a mother in prison has more than doubled, up 131%” (2010, p. 2). In fact, over 60% of incarcerated women in state prisons have a child younger than 18 years old (The Sentencing Project, 2018), and “approximately 6% to 10% of women entering jails are pregnant” (Clarke, Phipps, Tong, Rose, & Gold, 2010, p. 133). Given the significant increase in the incarceration of women over the past four decades—with 1.2 million women imprisoned at a rate double that of male incarceration (The Sentencing Project, 2018)—the issues of incarcerated motherhood and pregnancy have become even more significant. Due to this rapid rise in incarcerated mothers, criminal justice systems across the United States are facing unique challenges in addressing maternal incarceration. Prisons are often ill-equipped to handle the medical needs of pregnant inmates (Clarke & Adashi, 2011; Parker, 2005); perhaps unsurprisingly, then, inmates to feel apprehensive and unsatisfied with prenatal care they receive while incarcerated (Wismont, 2000). Moreover, incarcerated mothers who are physically separated from their children experience psychological symptoms of depression, grief, and loss—stressors that prisons struggled to address (Baunach, 1982; Chesney-Lind, 1983; Hairston, 1991; Ingram- Fogel, 1993). The incarceration of mothers frequently burdens inmates’ families, forcing them to assume the role of caregiver and take on the financial, social, and emotional responsibilities of child-raising in inmates’ absences (Comfort, Mckay, Landwehr, MOTHERHOOD IN PRISON 8 kennedy, Lindquist & Bir, 2016; Hairston, 1991; Turney & Wildeman, 2018). Children also face the consequences of maternal incarceration, experiencing increased problems with mental health, school performance, and participation in crime (Aaron & Daillaire, 2010; Roettger & Swisher, 2011). In order to keep up with this unique demographic of inmates and the particular challenges they face, prisons across the country have begun searching for programming and resources to better address the needs of pregnant inmates and incarcerated mothers, ranging from traditional parenting programs (Enos, 2001) to programs that provide increased visitation and bonding opportunities for mothers and their children (Block, 1999; Enos, 2001; Grant, 2006). However, these programs are often unsuccessful in preparing incarcerated women long-term for their responsibilities as mothers or in reducing recidivism among inmate-mothers (Tremblay & Sutherland, 2017). One particularly unique program has been adopted by a few prisons across the country: the prison nursery, which allows incarcerated mothers to serve their sentences while living with their newborn babies inside prison. The first program was established in 1901, at Bedford Hills Correctional Facility for Women, a maximum-security prison in New York (Elmalak, 2015). Although the exact number of prison nurseries in the United States is unknown due to fluctuations in funding and community support, approximately nine state prisons have nursery programs: Illinois, New York, Ohio, Nebraska, Washington, Indiana, West Virginia, South Dakota, and Wyoming (DeBoer, 2012; Chuck, 2018). Criteria for admission to these prison nurseries varies by program; still, all of the programs require eligible mothers
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