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Study depicts peril, hope for children of jailed mothers

For a young child whose mother is imprisoned, life’s prospects are predictably grim.

But a new study, the first empirical examination of the attachment relationships of young children whose mothers are in prison, suggests that simple interventions may prevent a downward social spiral for a rapidly growing and vulnerable population.

The critical finding of the study, published in the current issue (May/June 2005) of the journal Child Development, is that children placed in a stable home environment fare far better than those bounced from one home to another.

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Children placed in a single, secure setting are “much better off” than those who are not in a stable caregiving situation, says study author Julie Poehlmann, a UW-Madison professor of human development and family studies and a researcher at the Waisman Center. “Almost one-third of the kids in this study are doing well in their relationships.”

Link (University of Wisconsin)