NCJ Number
94778
Date Published
1982
Length
112 pages
Annotation
This thesis examines the prison nursery of the Bedford Hill Correction Facility in upper Westchester County, N.Y., from its early history as a reformatory for delinquent and wayward girls to its present status as a program for pregnant women convicted of serious offenses and sentenced to a maximum security prison.
Abstract
Material was collected primarily by observation and interviews when the author served as a parent-educator and consultant to the nursery program from March through December 1981. A history of the Bedford Hills nursery focuses on the vast differences in the reformatory nursery and the current program. The present nursery uses only a few infants, and mothers are drawn from a different population of women. They generally face extended prison terms, which means that mother and infant inevitably will be separated when the child is very young. The reformatory seemed much more supportive of inmates' efforts to mother, whereas security considerations inherent in a maximum security facility make it difficult to provide the freedom and autonomy necessary for mothering. Moreover, the presence of a baby is an exceptional situation and produces the feeling that the mother enjoys a privileged status, creates extra expenses, and causes unique management problems. The study discusses the history of women's penal institutions and other prison nurseries, the mother's role in child development, and the psychological problems of the Bedford Hills nursery mothers. Attention is given to the dual and often conflicting demands exerted on the inmate to be simultaneously a prisoner who surrenders autonomy and a mother who cannot function without it. Inmates resent not being able to choose the baby's doctor, food, toys, or clothing. In addition, no mother can have a private space to be with her baby and usually cannot participate in other prison activities away from the nursery floor. The nursery allowed some mothers to give their infants a relatively good start in life and maintain a sense of personal identity and responsibility, but for others it led to frustration and a sense of failure. The report suggests re-evaluating the concept of the prison nursery and recommends measures to alleviate some problems in the nursery. It includes approximately 50 references.