The Silent Victims

The Impact of Parental Imprisonment on Children

Liz GordonPūkeko Research Ltd

Children of Prisoners’ week• The week of 23 September was Children of

Prisoners’ week in New Zealand. This was the second time that the week had been run.

• The aim was to continue to raise awareness of the plight of the children, in the wake of several years of research.

• The focus of the week was the unpalatable fact that the children of prisoners are far more likely than others to end up in prison as adults...

Pūkeko Research Ltd. www.pukekoresearch.com

Not my crime – still my sentence

How did we get to this point?• In New Zealand, the situation of the children of

prisoners was largely unknown and unheard prior to 2009.

• 2009-2011 Pillars research project• Interviewed 400 prisoners and 80 families• Two reports: Invisible Children and overcoming

inter-generational recidivism, plus a Māori report.• Main finding: the agencies of justice and social

services are part of the problem, not part of the solution....

Pūkeko Research Ltd. www.pukekoresearch.com

Main findings of the study• Police: modes of arrest, the exercise of discretion and

the need to minimise harm.

• Courts: No place for a child? The prisoner stands and walks alone.

• Prison: Security trumps family.

Main findings of the study

• Benefit-led families, poverty, stigma and discrimination. Women bear the brunt as caregivers – grandparents, ‘aunties’, the whānau.

• Schooling, learning, and the downward spiral in education – discipline trumps inclusion

• The normalisation of unhealthy bodies and minds. Health professionals, PTSD and access to counselling.

We concluded that….Our research shows that changing policies and practices in health, education, social services, income support and the agencies of justice (police, courts, prisons) could together eliminate the factors that cause the children of prisoners to become prisoners in the next generation.

A time of change• The Corrections context has changed dramatically

from then to now.• Shift from ‘lock ‘em up’ mentality to a view that

imprisonment is itself harmful and should be avoided.

• Strong interest in our research – the discourse that the imprisonment of one generation can harm the next.

• New targets to reduce recidivism…. New interest in ‘reintegration’.

From research to practice•Practice manual and justus•Engagement with agencies• Difficulties: we always assume that the situation of the children of

prisoners is an accident or by product – but what is this is not true – what if our society is designed to generate a group to be punished – and how did that group get to be so overwhelmingly Māori ?

• Why is it that agencies are so resistant to making changes that can improve the lives of these children – and their opportunities for the future?