Re: Mothers in Prison |
by Zoe Sandvig |
For more about this tragic phenomenon, Nell Bernstein gives a compelling look at prison through the eyes of America's children. She offers a few more facts about the "by-products" of our criminal justice's "tough on crime" stance:
- One in thirty-three American children—and nearly one in eight African American children—will go to sleep tonight denied access to a parent’s embrace, because that parent is incarcerated.
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According to one study, 70 percent of children present at their parent’s arrest watched their parent being handcuffed and nearly 30 percent saw drawn weapons.
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Almost two-thirds of children being raised by single grandmothers live in poverty—this is partly due to exorbitant phone charges, cost of travel and lodging for prison visits, over-priced vending machines in the visiting rooms, and money for commissary items.
Children who have the "luxury" of visiting their parents in prison are frequently subjected to long lines, humiliating searches, noisy visiting rooms, and limited access to food.
If the child's parent is a murderer, rapist, batterer, or drug dealer, then isn't that child better off without them? I do not blame the system for the child having to go without their parent - I blame the parent for their actions and poor judgement.
Posted by: Jennifer | March 11, 2007 at 12:35 AM