Using in-depth interviews with mothers incarcerated in a maximum-security prison, the current study explores incarcerated mothers’ own perceptions and expectations regarding reunification with their families. For many of these mothers, reunification was an exciting prospect, but they recognized that the transition may not be easy for themselves, their children, or their children’s caregivers. Notably, while past research has treated reunification as including assuming care of children, our study suggests that some women view reunification strictly as rebuilding relationships with their children without plans to assume caring for them. We discuss implications for policy and programming for institutional and community corrections.

本研究通过对最高安全监狱中被监禁母亲的深入采访，探讨了被监禁母亲对与家人团聚的看法和期望。对于许多这样的母亲来说，团聚是一个令人兴奋的前景，但他们认识到过渡对自己，孩子或孩子的照料者而言可能并不容易。值得注意的是，尽管过去的研究将统一视为包括照顾孩子，但我们的研究表明，某些妇女严格地将统一视为与子女建立关系而没有计划照顾她们。我们讨论机构和社区更正对政策和规划的影响。