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. 2014 Sep:44:163-170.
doi: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2014.06.013. Epub 2014 Jun 20.

Parenting While Incarcerated: Tailoring the Strengthening Families Program for Use with Jailed Mothers

Alison L Miller  1 , Lauren E Weston  2 , Jamie Perryman  2 , Talia Horwitz  2 , Susan Franzen  2 , Shirley Cochran  3
Affiliations

Parenting While Incarcerated: Tailoring the Strengthening Families Program for Use with Jailed Mothers

Alison L Miller et al. Child Youth Serv Rev. 2014 Sep.

Abstract

Most incarcerated women are mothers. Parenting programs may benefit women, children and families, yet effectively intervening in correctional settings is a challenge. An evidence-based parenting intervention (the Strengthening Families Program) was tailored and implemented with women in a jail setting. Goals were to assess mothers' needs and interests regarding parenting while they were incarcerated, adapt the program to address those needs, and establish intervention delivery and evaluation methods in collaboration with a community-based agency. Women reported wanting to know more about effective communication; how children manage stress; finances; drug and alcohol use; self-care; and stress reduction. They reported high program satisfaction and reported reduced endorsement of corporal punishment after the intervention. Barriers to implementation included unpredictable attendance from session to session due to changing release dates, transfer to other facilities, and jail policies (e.g., lock-down; commissary hours). Implications for sustainable implementation of parenting programs in jail settings are discussed.

Keywords: incarcerated mothers; intervention tailoring; jail setting; parenting intervention; service delivery.

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