Incarcerated Mothers and Their Children

General Project Description

The rates of incarceration of women in the U.S. began to climb dramatically in the 1980's. Today, mothers are the fastest growing segment of the U.S. prison population. An important difference between the male and female prison population is that these women are usually custodial parents-- when a woman goes to prison there are often children left behind. This change in the U.S. prison population has taken place with little to no understanding of the long-term effects on the ability of these women function as parents, or the consequences for their children. Whether or not the State of Illinois and Cook County should increase their investment in programs to improve the outcomes for these offenders as they leave prison is the subject of active debate. The Chicago Project on Female Prisoners and Their Children will provide policy makers with the first reliable benchmarks of the social and economic circumstances of these women as well as suggesting policy alternatives.

The proposed research agenda will unfold in a series of projects planned over several years. The first phase, currently underway, utilizes state level administrative data available through collaborative relationships with the Illinois Department of Corrections and the Chapin Hall Center for Children. With these data we are tracking (for the years 1990-2000), the histories of the approximately 14,000 women admitted to prison in Illinois and their estimated 35,000 children, as they move through the criminal justice system, foster care, welfare programs, and the legitimate labor market.

In the future we will continue to work with a wide range of related institutions including state, county, and school district agencies to enhance the depth and breadth of data sources and, eventually, to construct a credible cost/benefit analysis of providing comprehensive rehabilitation services to improve the outcome for these women and their children.

Read the Research

• "The Impact of Incarceration in State Prison on the Employment Prospects of Women," Robert LaLonde and Rosa Cho, Harris School Working Paper #05.10 (August 2005)
• "Female Offenders Use of Social Welfare Programs Before and After Jail and Prison: Does Prison Cause Welfare Dependency?" Robert LaLonde and Kristin F. Butcher, Harris School Working Paper #07.18 (November 2006)
• Read the full text of this research in pdf format.
• Read a transcript of Susan George's Comments to the Congressional Black Caucus, September 14, 2002 in pdf format
   

News Coverage

• "Mothers in Prison" - HarrisView Spring 2003
• "Not Only Moms Sentenced" by Bonnie Miller Rubin, Chicago Tribune (February 9, 2003)
• Russell Sage Foundation awards $128K to Robert LaLonde and Susan George for Incarcerated Mothers study (November 2002)
• Incarcerated Mothers Project discussion - WBEZ 91.5FM morning magazine program (November 26, 2002)
• "Researchers Study Incarcerated Mothers' Prospects" - University of Chicago Chronicle (November 7, 2002)
• Incarcerated Mothers Project discussion - WVON 1450AM (October 31, 2002)