Abstract With the increase in incarceration rates, researchers have turned their attention to the broader social implications of removing family members from home and putting them behind bars. This causes a major disruption, particularly when considering the impact this has on the family when the mother is the one in prison. In order to alleviate these harms, contact maintenance programs, which are designed to provide enhanced contact between parents and children during periods of incarceration, are instituted to help maintain these relationships. The purpose of this project is to explore incarcerated women’s perspectives of one of these programs, the Connecting with Kids Program (CKP), at a Midwestern correctional facility (MCF). Thirty-four in-depth interviews were conducted with participants in the program, and themes surrounding the unique services provided emerged, such as enhanced visitation programs and technologically enhanced communication and the privacy and family environment fostered by these programs. These findings have important implications for future policies regarding gender specific prison programing, contact maintenance programs, and incarcerated people’s welfare and societal reintegration.

中文翻译：

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分开生活时保持联系：监狱联络维持计划的探索

摘要随着监禁率的提高，研究人员已将注意力转移到更广泛的社会意义上，即把家庭成员从家里带走并关进监狱。这会造成严重的破坏，特别是当母亲是在狱中的母亲时，考虑到这会对家庭造成影响。为了减轻这些伤害，制定了旨在维持在监禁期间父母与孩子之间的联系的联系维持计划，以帮助维持这些关系。该项目的目的是在中西部教养所（MCF）探究被监禁妇女对其中一项计划“与孩子们相连的计划”（CKP）的看法。对该计划的参与者进行了34次深度访谈，围绕提供的独特服务的主题应运而生，例如改进的访问计划和技术上增强的交流以及这些计划所促进的隐私和家庭环境。这些发现对未来针对特定性别的监狱计划，联络人维持计划以及被监禁人员的福利和社会重返社会的政策具有重要意义。