About Babies Behind Bars

The article’s main point centers on the idea of nurseries being located inside of female prisons in America to care for the children of incarcerated mothers. Elmalak (2015, p. 1) claims that people who are imprisoned after being found guilty typically receive little notice. He adds that only when a prison is in crisis do its interiors become known to the general population. But a new tendency has been reshaping life behind bars in recent years. The number of women being imprisoned has increased dramatically, which presents new difficulties. (Elmalak, 2015, p.1). The most amicable solution for this challenge is the adoption of nurseries within female prisons. Nurseries have been part of these prisons for over a century, and studies by the writer have identified that their benefits outweigh their limitations and thus upholds their presence.

The study employed an external desk research technique that is the conducted analysis and evaluation of existing research approach in the development of his study. He mostly identified relevant secondary sources of information and compiled them into a sensible article. This technique gave rise to both qualitative and quantitative data. For instance, 82% of incarcerated women were primary caretakers of their children before imprisonment, is quantitative data and in a case where the author cited a Supreme Court case, Wolff v McDonnell is considered qualitative data. The identified data is then given a clear explanation to have a meaning out of it. The meaningful information gave rise to a scholarly journal article that asserted the author’s hypothesis that female prison children nurseries are essential to both the well-being of the child and the incarcerated mother.

In his conclusion, the author advocated for the implementation of nursery programs in prisons since their overall advantages greatly outweighed the disadvantages. The research created a new frontier for research in an area that for centuries has not been given attention. It led to the understanding that the lives and rights of inmates do not end at conviction.

Study Analysis

A critical analysis of the article will help identify the objectivity of all the sections covered by the author by determining their strengths and weaknesses. Strengths will provide an avenue for adoption by other similar studies whereas weaknesses will identify lines of improvement.

The purpose of the study was to demonstrate why it is essential to have the nursery program in American prisons implemented and expanded to enhance its benefits. The title summarizes the author’s key argument. The title gives an overhaul picture of what the author is about to address in his study and therefore it quickly draws the attention of the reader. It is built-up on credible statistical figures that make a reader understand the position of the challenge the author is about to address. For example, Elmalak (2015, p. 2) expressed his concern over the ballooning number of women who are getting convicted. Out of this figure, he went ahead and acknowledged that conviction of women comes with special problems especially when the women involved are mothers to minors who rely mostly on their care. To make the reader visualize the harsh reality of his hypothesis, Elmalak (2015, p. 2) went ahead and quantified it by stating that about 77% of female convicts in state-operated jails and 82% in federal-run prison claimed to be primary caretakers of their minor children prior to their conviction. This aspect motivates the reader to find out what is being done to address the challenge thus persuading them to read the article further. The introduction has also well elaborated on the study’s rationale. The reader is able to identify the gap or the value the study is adding to the society. For instance, it is stated from the beginning that few studies pay attention to the life of a jailed person (Elmalak, 2015, p. 1). From this statement, it is evident that the author is building-up on an area that was lowly attended to before.

However, this section bears some weaknesses. The author fails to stipulate the methods of data collection he intended to utilize to build up his study.

Methods

The study heavily depended on external desk research methodology. This method involves obtaining relevant research data from secondary sources that are compiled by different authentic organizations or bodies such as government department and survey organizations. The method is relevant to the study since all facts and figures collected from the secondary sources have been cleaned and verified by the relevant bodies. The data is particular to the objectives of the study. For instance, the article describes how women imprisonment rates have been growing since the first female prison was set up in Indiana in 1873 (Elmalak, 2015, p. 5). At the time, the female prison could house between 40 to 60 women at a time. By the year 2000, the number had expanded to 93,234, and by then, it was projected to hit 112,822 (Elmalak, 2015, p. 5). This trend led to a sharp increase in the number of female prisons. According to Elmalak (2015, p. 5), the number expanded by 637% between 1980 and 2011, a rate he says was 1.5 times higher than that of the male prisons. The facts are an indication that the numbers of women who were getting convicted were on the rise and so are their special needs especially when it comes to women with children. Therefore, the method the writer employed to obtain his facts is relevant to his objective.

The study is credible enough to be utilized as a source document for further research or other related studies. This aspect is generated from the fact that the critical data for the study was obtained from authentic secondary sources.

However, the method comes with myriads of weaknesses. Secondary sources of data may not be timely that is, the sources the authors may have used could be outdated and may not possess the current trends in the area of study of the author. For instance, the eligibility criteria cited by the author that was employed by the prison services at the onset of the nursery program in the United States in 1901 may not be applicable today (Elmalak, 2015, p. 8).

Results

In Part II of the study, the author began by acknowledging that the United States led the world in terms of the prison population at a rate of 716 convicts in every 100,000 people against the global rate of 150 convicts in every 100,000 people (Elmalak, 2015, p. 3). The study also gathered that the number of women who were getting convicted since the first time a women’s prison was opened in 1873 has been on a steady growth trajectory (Elmalak, 2015, p. 5). The value rose from about 60 women in 1873 to 201,200 by 2015 (Elmalak, 2015, p. 6). The number of women prisons rose by 637% between 1980 and 2011 (Elmalak, 2015, p. 5).

Part III addresses racial differences. This section of the study ascertained the level of racial disparities where Black and Hispanic women were more likely to be jailed than their white counterparts. For instance, in 2011, 129 black women were like to be incarcerated compared to 59 white women in a sample of about 100,000 women (Elmalak, 2015, p. 6). Similarly, 71 Hispanic women versus 51 white women in every 100,000 women were likely to face a jail term (Elmalak, 2015, p. 6).

As result of jailing women, Part IV tackles the issue of pregnancy and delivery as they had become a new challenge that the prison services had to address. Apart from imprisoning deliveries, Elmalak (2015, p. 7) stated that 77% of women in state prison stated that they were the daily caregivers of their children prior to their incarceration. Irrespective of the fact that the numbers of women who needed to take care of their children within the walls of the prison, only nine states had operational nurseries or were under development (Elmalak, 2015, p. 7).

Part V Elmalak (2015, p. 8) begins by explaining that a prison nursery is a facility that gave jailed women an opportunity to be with their newborn for a limited duration that is, between 12 and 18 months. He further notes that despite the fact that the number of prison nurseries was on the rise, the concept remained a rare idea. A short history of the program revealed that the first and the oldest prison nursery plan was initiated in Bedford Hill maximum-security women prison, New York in 1901 (Elmalak, 2015, p. 8). The eligibility criteria for the nursery program at the time required a woman to be convicted of a non-violent crime and had no prior record of child abuse or any form of violence against children.

The highlighted results give a logical sequence of events that have led to the development of nursery programs. Women needed an opportunity to be with their newborns. They needed maternal health care within the confines of the prisons. Thus the results compiled by the author were in line with his desired objective.

Discussions

The results of the study give an insight towards considering the benefits of nursery programs to ascertain the author’s claim. According toElmalak (2015, p. 10), the benefits of the programs were not a monopoly for children alone irrespective of the fact that they were the primary target, they also benefited the convicted women who were mothers. They offered the mothers and their infants an opportunity to bond during the first critical years of development of a child (Elmalak, 2015, p. 10). This aspect is important during the early developmental stages of a child as it is linked to healthy development during childhood. Elmalak (2015, p. 10) adds that the programs led to a decline in recidivism rates amongst the participating women. In support of this finding, Elmalak (2015, p. 11) added that longitudinal had established that a child who had experienced love from a primary caretaker are less like to suffer both social and emotional challenges in their later life.

Prison nurseries have also been linked to improved mental health. Earlier studies found that mental health is a general challenge within American prisons (Elmalak, 2015, p. 12). However, the prevalence of this problem is more in female prisons than those of their male counterparts (Elmalak, 2015, p. 12).Elmalak (2015, p.12) argues that establishing nursery programs within female prisons may lead to an improvement of mental health of convicted mothers.

The programs also have the potential to improve a mother’s behaviors. To stand a good chance to be eligible for the program, a mother is required to demonstrate the best of her conduct. These requirements serve as an incentive for the mother to adhere to the code of conduct of the prison such as maintaining clean urine tests and have zero disciplinary actions.

The author raises questions about the minimum age a mother is allowed to stay with their newborn. A child can only stay in the prison nursery for a maximum of 18 months. The author feels that this duration is not sufficient to develop a good attachment between the two. The study also leaves room for research in the line of security threats that prison nurseries might pose, for instance, using them as conduits for smuggling contraband goods into the prison premises.

Conclusion

The study has been not only useful to the writer’s objective but also other writers around the world. The article elicited action from writers in the United Kingdom who decide to review the deplorable condition of mothers and their children in the country’s female prisons. For instance, Black, Payns, Lansdown &Gregoire (2004. P. 896) indicated that the United Kingdom (UK) held the highest number of women convicts in the European Union by 2004. They further stated that approximately 32,000 children who were age 16 years and below were separated from their mothers upon incarceration (Black et al., 2004, p. 897). This figure includes about 2880 children who were below the age of 18 months. At the time the only facility that had a nursery unit to handle children below the age of 18 months had the capacity to cater for about 90 children (Black et al., 2004, p. 898). The only plans that were in place to try and address the issue involved expanding the unit to accommodate about 114 children. Despite an increase in the number of female convicts who are mothers to children below 18 months old, the capacity was limited to 114, and therefore infants face the risk of being separated from their jailed mothers.

A look at Elmalak’s article, insights on how this challenge can be tackled is outlined. It provides a number of advantages that are supported by authentic figures to stress on the relevance of his objective that is, nurseries are beneficial to both the mother behind bars and her infant baby. Elmalak (2015, p. 10) emphasizes that a proper psychological development of a child from their early stages of growth is highly connected to the bond they develop with their mother.

Nevertheless, other studies done seem not to agree with the author’s argument. Hanton (2016) supported the hypothesis that many children born in prison ended up going back to the same jails decades afterward as crime perpetrators. He defends his argument by highlighting the plight of a crying child who is held by her mother. The context of this cry is not in the normal house set up but in a prison where the mother’s baby was born. He creates an emotional appeal by stressing the fact that the baby’s mother lacked privacy and any wrongdoing from her side could take the baby away from her (Hanton, 2016). In general, the author was giving a picture of how life is for female convicts with children within the UK’s mother and baby prison units.

Hanton (2016) opens his argument by stating that babies were only allowed to be with their mothers in prison for a maximum of 18 months, after which the perils of living the confines of the institutions begin to outweigh advantages of the pair being together. The babies behind bars usually develop detrimental effects in their later lives; such as he t doubled risk of mental health challenges. Their risk of developing anti-social and delinquent characters triples (Hanton, 2016).

To provide a solution, Hanton (2016) outlines the nature of crimes many convicted females do. About 19% of the female convicts are usually jailed for harmful and violent crimes. The vast majority are usually are usually victims of domestic abuse and mental problems (Hanton, 2016). Others are usually in prison out of coercion to do some illegal activity such as drug trafficking.

The research is significant as it emphasizes on the benefit of nursery programs in prisons. However, it may consider addressing the challenges that are associated with the concept it stands for such as the possibility of developing mental disorders for the babies in jail.

References

Black, D., Payne, H., Lansdown, R., &Gregoire, A. (2004). Babies behind bars revisited. Archives Of Disease In Childhood, 89(10), 896-898. http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/adc.2003.037382

Elmalak, S. (2015). Babies Behind Bars: An Evaluation of Prison Nurseries in American Female Prisons and Their Potential Constitutional Challenges. Pace Law Review, 35(3), 1-27.

Hanton, L. (2016). Babies Behind Bars. The University Of Nottingham’s Impact Official Student Magazine. Retrieved from http://www.impactnottingham.com/2016/02/babies-behind-bars/