Life course theory supports strengthening incarcerated mothers' parenting skills and parent–child relationships to help both inmate mothers and their children. Prison parenting programs address this need. This study evaluates the efficacy of the parenting program at a Southern correctional institution for women in changing inmate mothers' parenting knowledge and skills. A pretest–posttest nonequivalent comparison group quasi-experimental design was used to assess short-term change in knowledge after 12-week parent education courses. Paired sample t tests of parenting class participants' (n = 64) Time 1 and Time 2 scores on two parenting inventories suggest significant positive change likely resulting from the parent education program. No significant change was indicated in a comparison group (n = 26) of inmate mothers.
Agnew, R. (1992). Foundation for general strain theory of crime and delinquency. Criminology, 30, 47-87.
2.
Akers, R. (1997). Criminological theories: Introduction and evaluation . Los Angeles: Roxbury.
3.
American Correctional Association. (1990). The female offender: What does the future hold?Arlington, VA: Task Force on the Female Offender.
4.
Barnhill, S., & Dressel, P. (1991). Three generations at risk. Atlanta, GA: Aid to Imprisoned Mothers.
5.
Baumrind, D. (1971). Current patterns of parental authority. Developmental Psychology Monographs, 4, 1-103.
6.
Baunach, P. (1985). Mothers in prison. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishing.
7.
Bavolek, S., & Keene, R. (1999). Adult-Adolescent Parenting Inventory (AAPI-2) administration and development handbook. Park City, UT: Family Development Resources.
8.
Bayse, D., Allgood, S., & Van Wyk, P. (1991). Family life education: An effective tool for prisoner rehabilitation. Family Relations , 40, 254-257.
9.
Block, K. (1998). Girl Scouts Beyond Bars: Facilitating parent-child contact in correctional settings. Child Welfare, 98, 561-579.
10.
Bloom, B., & Steinhart, D. (1993). Why punish the children?San Francisco: National Council on Crime and Delinquency .
11.
Browne, D.C. (1989). Incarcerated mothers and parenting. Journal of Family Violence, 4(2), 211-221.
12.
Carlson, B., & Cervera, N. (1991). Inmates and their wives: Incarceration and family life. Westport, CT: Greenwood.
13.
Chesney-Lind, M. (1997). The female offender girls, women, and crime. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
14.
Cook, T., & Campbell, D. (1979). Quasi-experimentation: Design and analysis issues for field settings. Chicago: Rand McNally.
15.
Datesman, S., & Cales, G. (1983). I'm still the same mommy: maintaining the mother/child relationship in prison. The Prison Journal, 63, 142-154.
16.
Dumas, J. (1989). Treating antisocial behavior in children: Child and family approaches. Clinical Psychology Review, 9, 197-222.
17.
Elder, G.H., Jr. (1985). Perspectives on the life course. In G. Elder, Jr. (Ed.), Life course dynamics (pp. 23-29). Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
18.
Farrington, D. (1986). Stepping stones to adult criminal careers. In D. Olweus, J. Block, & M. Radke-Yarrow (Eds.), Development of antisocial and prosocial behavior (pp. 359-384). New York: Academic Press.
19.
Farrington, D., & West, D. (1990). The Cambridge study in delinquent development: A long-term follow-up of 411 London males. In H. J. Kerner & G. Kaiser (Eds.), Riminalitat: Personlichkeit, legensgeschichte, und verhalten (pp. 115-138). Berlin, Germany: Springer-Verlag.
20.
Fessler, S. (1991). Mothers in the correctional system: Separation from children and reunification after incarceration. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, State University of New York at Albany.
21.
Finkelstein, N., & Piedade, E. (1993, May-June). The relational model and the treatment of addicted women. The Counselor, pp. 8-12.
22.
Finnegan, L. (1988). Women in treatment. In R. Bupont, A. Goldstein, & J. O'Donnell (Eds.), Handbook on drug abuse (pp. 121-131). Washington, DC: National Institute on Drug Abuse.
23.
Flanzraich, M., & Dunsavage, T. (1977). Role reversal in abused/neglected families: Implications for child welfare workers. Children Today, 6, 131-151.
24.
Gerard, A.B. (1994). Parent-Child Relationship Inventory (PCRI): Manual . Los Angeles: Western Psychological Services.
25.
Glick, R., & Neto, V. (1977). National Survey of Women's Correctional Programs . Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, National Institute of Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice.
26.
Glueck, S., & Glueck, E. (1950). Unraveling juvenile delinquency. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
27.
Gottfredson, M., & Hirschi, T. (1990). A general theory of crime. Palo Alto, CA: Stanford University Press.
28.
Grossman, J. (1984). Female commitments 1982: The family. Albany: New York Department of Correctional Services .
29.
Hagan, J. (1996). The next generation: Children of prisoners (Working Paper N0.204.62.19.52). Washington, DC: Office of Criminal Justice Resource Center.
30.
Hagan, J., & Palonni, A. (1990). The social reproduction of a criminal class of working class London circa 1950-80. American Journal of Sociology , 96, 265-297.
31.
Hairston, C.F. (1988). Family ties during imprisonment: Do they influence future criminal activity? Federal Probation, 52(1), 48-52.
32.
Hairston, C.F. (1991). Family ties during imprisonment: Important to whom and for what? Journal of Sociology and Social Welfare , 1, 87-102.
33.
Harm, N., & Thompson, P. (1997). Evaluating the effectiveness of parent education for incarcerated mothers. Journal of Offender Rehabilitation , 24, 135-152.
34.
Hirschi, T. (1969). Causes of delinquency. Berkeley : University of California Press.
35.
Johnston, D. (1991). Jailed mothers. Pasadena, CA : Pacific Oaks Center for Children of Incarcerated Parents.
36.
Johnston, D. (1992). Children of offenders. Pasadena, CA: Pacific Oaks Center for Children of Incarcerated Parents.
37.
Johnston, D. (1995). Interventions. In K. Gabel & D. Johnston (Eds.), Children of incarcerated parents (pp. 199-236). New York: Lexington Books.
38.
Kazdin, A. (1987). Treatment of antisocial behavior in children: Current status and future directions. Psychological Bulletin , 102, 187-203.
39.
Klein, S., & Bahr, S. (1996). An evaluation of a family-centered cognitive skills program for prison inmates. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 40, 334-346.
40.
Lewis, C., & O'Brien, M. (1987). Reassessing fatherhood: New observations on fathers and the modern family. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
41.
Loeber, R., & Stouthamer-Loeber, M. (1986). Family factors as correlates and predictors of juvenile conduct problems and delinquency. In M. Tonry & N. Morris (Eds.), Crime and justice: An annual review of research (Vol. 7, pp. 29-142). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
42.
McGowan, B., & Blumenthal, K. (1978). Why punish the children? A study of children of women prisoners. Hackensack, NJ : National Council on Crime and Delinquency.
43.
Meyer, D., & Moriarty, C. (1995). Rebonding and rebuilding (A parenting curriculum) (4th ed.). Los Angeles: Hacienda LaPuenta.
44.
Moore, A., & Clement, M. (1998). Effects of parenting training for incarcerated mothers. Journal of Offender Rehabilitation, 27, 57-72.
45.
Palmer, T. (1996). Programmatic and nonprogrammatic aspects of successful intervention. In A. Harland (Ed.), Choosing options that work: Defining the demand and evaluating the supply (pp. 131-182). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
46.
Patterson, G., Crosby, L., & Vuchinich, S. (1992). Predicting risk for early police arrest. Journal of Quantitative Criminology, 8, 335-355.
47.
Patterson, G., Reid, J., & Dishon, T. (1992). Antisocial boys. Eugene, OR : Castalia.
48.
Pollock, J. (2002). Women, prison, and crime (2nd ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth .
49.
Reckless, W. (1961). A new theory of delinquency and crime. Federal Probation, 25, 42-46.
50.
Reiss, A. (1951). Delinquency as the failure of personal and social controls. American Sociological Review, 21, 744-756.
51.
Rudel, C., & Hayes, M. (1990). Behind no bars. Children Today , 19, 20-23.
52.
Sampson, R., & Laub, J. (1993). Crime in the making. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
53.
Sampson, R., & Laub, J. (1999). Crime and the life course. In F. Cullen & R. Agnew (Eds.), Criminological theory past to present (pp. 187-198). Los Angeles: Roxbury.
54.
Schmidt, P. (2002, February 8). College programs for prisoners, long neglected, win new support. Chronicle of Higher Education , pp. A26-A27.
55.
Shover, N. (1996). Great pretenders. Boulder, CO: Westview.
56.
Steinberg, L., Elmen, J., & Mounts, N. (1989). Authoritative parenting, psychosocial maturity, and academic success among adolescents. Child Development , 60, 1424-1436.
57.
Tremblay, R., Vitaro, F., Bertrand, L., Leblanc, M., Beauchesne, H., Boileau, H., et al. (2001). Parent and child training to prevent early onset of delinquency. In A. Piquero & P. Mazerolle (Eds.), Life-course criminology (pp. 355-373). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth .
58.
U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics. (1994). Women in prison. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office.
59.
U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics. (1998). Women offenders: Programming needs and promising approaches. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office.
60.
U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics. (1999a). Sourcebook of criminal justice statistics 1998 . Washington, DC: Government Printing Office.
61.
U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics. (1999b). Women offenders. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office.
62.
U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics. (2000). Incarcerated parents and their children. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office.
63.
U.S. General Accounting Office. (1979). Female offenders: Who are they and what are they and what are the problems confronting them?Washington, DC: Government Printing Office.
64.
Wilczak, G., & Markstrom, C. (1999). The effects of parent education on parental locus of control and satisfaction of incarcerated fathers. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 43, 90-102.
